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Welcome to My World

Reader's beware!

What follows are tales that have emerged from my head. They may or may not be suitable for reading and discussion.
In any case, it's my world here so I will do as I please....

October 8, 2004

Peter 10:58 AM

Hey check this out... you can now add comments to my posts. Granted my posts have been few and far between, but perhaps that is exactly what you want to comment on.... :)

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July 14, 2004

Peter 9:36 PM

hello :)

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May 7, 2004

Peter 2:37 PM

My roomate is on crack...........

[12:34] Scotty P: i'm getting a little tired of the vagueness of "i'm around, just not here". i think you should begin to carry around with you a little GPS transceiver somehow interfaced with IM to dynamically update your away message with precise latitude and longitude. how bout it?

[12:34] *** Auto-response sent to Scotty P: Hey, I'm around, just not here. Leave a message or call my phone......

[12:37] Scotty P: "Hey, I'm at 74'32"N 32"59"W, heading NNW at 32.4mph. Leave a message, call my phone, or come intercept me in my travels....."

[12:38] Scotty P: i think that would be cool

[12:52] Scotty P: a second-phase enhancement is to interface also with mapquest or similar service, to resolve your coordinates into a probable road, address or place of business. this would greatly simplify matters, and i'm sure your friends would approve.

[12:56] Scotty P: in fact, i bet you could customize your onstar hardware to do a lot of this already... but that would leave unsolved the issue of what to do when you've left the vehicle.

[12:57] Scotty P: yeah, i know it's tempting to just leverage your existing assets, but i'd say stick with the portable gps to ensure maximum coverage...

[13:04] Scotty P: although . . .

[13:06] Scotty P: it could be argued that wherever your truck is parked, you're not far away. is it not enough to know that you're at the CVS? does one need to know you're inside the building, aisle 3, picking up blueberry-flavoured vaseline? i think not. that level of granularity would be an invasion of privacy.

[13:08] Scotty P: also, factoring in the margin of error with the smaller gps units, it might not even be reliable to that level of detail. i mean, only a few feet error might result in one concluding that you're over in aisle 7, grabbing a can of iced tea.

[13:09] Scotty P: of course the more insightful among us would immediately doubt that conclusion, knowing that you avoid purchasing small quantities of iced tea.

[13:29] Scotty P: if you do go the onstar route, another exciting possibility is to outfit it with some basic text-to-speech, so you can conduct IM sessions through the sound system and mic, perhaps using the XM radio display as a buddy list

[13:31] Scotty P: imagine you're driving along and out of nowhere a speak-and-spell pippin booms out through the tahoe. what could be better?

[13:32] Scotty P: i guess you'd lose the advantage of sending and receiving emoticons, but that's a shortcoming we can live with for the initial rollout.

[14:33] GonzoGallo: bored at work today, huh

March 1, 2004

Peter 8:57 PM

Have I mentioned in the last 4 days that XM rocks? Well today they added more channels. I can now instantly get the traffic and weather in many major US cities. So naturally, as I was driving in the cool spring-like weather we had today, I had to tune into the weather forcast for Tampa. Damn its going to be nice there tomorrow.

Hey, on a related note, I used my sunroof for the 1st time today. I know that probably of no interest to you but too bad, this is my website and I'm going to mention anything I want to so PBBbtthhhhh.... Anywho, I never owned a sunroof before, and it was pretty cool.... although I now need to get a pair of sunglasses so I can see while I am driving......

Oh well, back to class......

February 26, 2004

Peter 4:54 PM

So I finally got my new truck. Mind you , I ordered it in November and it is now February, but we wont get into that mess.... Anyways this truck has XM radio in it. (Thats Satellite Radio to those of you who are not from this planet.) now, let me say this.... Holy Crap! How did I ever survive without XM radio? It's the coolest thing! Last weekend I drove down to Washington DC and I didn't have to mess around trying to find a good station. I listened to the same stations all the way there and back. It has over 100 channels of programming from music from various decades (like the 40s - 90s) as well as techno, rock, country, and talk radio. I don't think i will ever need the FM or AM dials ever again....... Rock On XM!

February 2, 2004

Peter 6:11 PM

I'm sitting in class and I'm bored and I have a computer in front of me. So here you go Sheila, here is your web-site update. (If you are not Sheila, then that last line was not for you.) So, before you think you have the wrong website, let me explain. Yes you read the 1st line correctly, I am in class. I have decided to take some classes at FDU just for the fun of it. They are graphics design classes and my intention is to eventually learn how to do some computer/video animations. For the most part the class is fun, except its pretty slow, and so I find myself bored and surfing the web half the time. Anywho... time to get back to class I guess.

December 28, 2003

Peter 3:42 PM

Hey where have you been? Oops its been me who is slacking (as usual) anyways things have been good, and hectic so I haven't posted much here since August. Damn...... Anywho. Thanks for stopping by. What can I tell you. Last night I went to see a movie. I saw The Last Samuri and it was excellent! By far, the best movie I have seen all year. I highly recommend it and I also highly recommend you take me to see it again as well. And you should probably pay for me and buy me popcorn and a diet coke too. Oh and pick me up at home and drop me off when its over. Thats all :) Anyways I have to pack now, I'm heading to Puertorico this week to celebrate New Years and to experience a new land. I will tell you all about it when I get back. Happy New Year!

August 27, 2003

Peter 1:33 PM

Here is something I don't need -> A new hobby.

I do so many things for fun that I end up not having enough time to do them all. The last thing I need is something new to occupy my time. So I must have been on drugs this morning when I decided to try my skill wakeboarding. (I won't even comment on how insane it is to get home at 1:00am and then be on the road heading to the lake at 4:30am.) The adrenaline kicked in bright and early (as did the XS caffinated energy drink) and I had a blast. It was so much fun even though I took a beating. My arms are so sore... But I can't wait to do it again. Now all I need is a lake, a boat, a board, a lake house, hmmmmm........ Why are all of my hobbies so expensive. Why couldn't I just take up breathng....

I took some pictures of the morning. None of them are of me though, as I was the one taking the pictures and there really wouldn't have been much to see except me lying in the water. They are pictures of Brian and Marie, the two extremely patient people who spent the morning teaching me the basics. Thanks guys. I will have the pictures posted properly later, but in the mean time you can view them here.

August 7, 2003

Peter 3:51 PM

I can't believe its already Thursday. This week went by way too fast. I feel like I got absolutely nothing accomplished. But then I realized that I did. So now I feel better.

On Tuesday, I received a book from Time Life. It was a book I ordered and when I got it I was excited to see that there was a label on the box announcing a free gift inside. Naturally I thoght to myself, Woo Hoo a free Gift! So I tore open the package and revealed my free gift. Are you ready for this? The free gift was a small magnifing glass, a moist towelette and a pair of shoelaces that are probably for a size 2 childs shoe. This is perhaps the worst gift I was ever given by anyone. Damn you Time Life for getting me all excited and then trampeling on my excitement. Hmmm, I wonder if I can re-wrap the gift and give it to someone else.... Chris' birthday is tomorrow I wonder if he would like a pari of shoelaces...... Hmmmmmmm

July 24, 2003

Peter 11:48 PM

Ok so I haven't updated this in a few weeks but that is because I have been helping a friend start his own website. So please, go check out www.cosmokid.com and let me know what you think.

In other ramblings, I have been reading a book lately that talks alot about omens. The book is called The Alchemist and it is by Paulo Coelho. So far its pretty good. Anyway, I saw a T shirt that I liked today and I almost bought it, but I didn't. Then I thought about the story and how the T-shirt may be an omen so I went back to buy it. But when I got there and looked at it closer, I decided it was actually a piece of crap. Oh well, so much for omens.

July 7, 2003

Peter 5:37 PM

I'm sitting in the waiting room for my doctor this afternoon and sitting next to me is a 2 year old boy and his mother. The boy was playing with this old fashioned toy that consisted of marbles in a box with carved out grooves in it that allow the marbles to roll around but not fall out of the box. The boy had this box on his lap and it appeared that he was trying to get all the marbles to one side of the box. Unfortunately, the box was on an angle and they kept rolling back to the other side of the box. As I watched him, I noticed that he was never discouraged with this result. He simply accepted it and then tried again and again to accomplish his goal. It made me wonder when in the course of human development do you get to the point where you learn that giving up is an acceptable outcome. I realized that you can learn alot about yourself and the world by watching kids do their own thing. There is something beautiful about life and nature that you can see when watching the innocence of a child at play.

As I was watching him he saw me and smiled. Then he told me to watch. Which I was doing and it confused me that he asked me to watch. But then I realized that he was letting me know that I had a watch on my wrist. He then showed me his wrist and he said no watch. What an innocent conversation. To me it was meaningless, but to him it was the whole world. It proved to him that he could communicate with an adult and he was obviously pleased with himself. Then back to the marbles game he went.

I think the next time I am in a social situation I will try to be like the inncoent boy. Perhaps I will point out the watch on some strangers wrist and see what he/she says. I wonder if they will humor me or perhaps (more likely) I will simply recieve a punch in my face.......

July 2, 2003

Peter 12:27 AM

So this Sunday I finally broke down and went into a Starbucks for the very first time. I generally didn't care to go into any because I dont drink coffee or tea, but the people I was with were all going in so I figured I would go in and see what all the fuss was about. I found something on the menu that looked semi drinkable and I ordered it. Let me tell you it must have had heroin in it because not only was it great, but I wanted more. As a matter of fact since Sunday I have already been back to Starbucks 3 more times and it is only Tuesday. Stupid addictive Tazo Citrus drink.

I also bought chocolate covered blueberries at Starbucks today. They were good, but they melt in the car. Oh well.....

June 21, 2003

Peter 11:16 PM

Be the Miracle.

That is the topic of tonight's discussion. That's right, I'm quoting a movie I saw this evening; Bruce Almighty. Today I bummed around all day then at 8:00pm I got a craving for popcorn. So I called up Leo and we went to see Bruce Almighty. I expected it to be a stupid comedy but it turned out to be a pretty good movie with a nice moral. (Is that the word? In any case, you understand what I mean.) The quote, Be the Miracle is a pretty powerful quote. It pretty much empowers you to take action, which is what the point of the movie was all about. You can live life praying and begging and wishing for devine intervention or you can take control and make things happen. For yourself and for others. Instead of blaming a diety when things don't go your way, try stepping up to the plate. Put the gears in motion that will change the direction you are heading. I'm not dissin' any religion, all I am saying is that if you want something to happen, you have a better chance of it happening if you get off your butt and do something about it. Or you can just sit there and have your own pity party. Its up to you. Be the Miracle.

That reminds me of another movie quite, "Don't dream it, Be it." I won't tell you what movie that because I don't want to dis-credit the power in that quote. Lets examine it. It says pretty much the same thing. Instead of just dreaming of what you want. Become what you want. If you want to be a millionaire, go out and become one. Dreams are nice but if they don't call you into action then they are nothing more than fairytales. I plan to retire by age 35, and do you know what, I WILL retire by age 35. I am already taking action to make that dream a reality. I am living in that reality and it is making all the difference.

Ask yourself: What are your goals? What are your dreams? Now, stop surfing the net, get off your ass and take action. Do it today. Do it now.

I should be in bed. Really I should. I have to get up at 7:00am to go exercise... why am I still up?

May 18, 2003

Peter 11:25 AM

Ok so It's been 2 months and now snowboarding season is over. :( It took me a while to admit it to myself that it was over so that is where I have been for the last 2 months. Seriously though, it was an awesome season in which I racked up 24 days on the slopes in 7 different states. I can't wait until next season!

In other events, the last 2 months have been exteremly busy and productive. On the road to becoming financially free in the next 5 years, I have taken some major steps. These include starting up a company, hiring an accountant and an attourney, and networking with people in the business world. I have also secured some credit towards my endeavors and just yesterday I signed my 1st contract for a condo unit in North Jersey. (Let me tell you, the check I wrote for the deposit was the largest check I have ever written... .... I sure hope it dosen't bounce.) My schedule for this week dosen't get any lighter, but its all good.

I can't believe that next weekend is already Memorial Day, I better get around to opening up the pool soon. Then 2 weekends from now its off to vacation in Vegas! Woo Hoo!

Oh well, time to hit the soccer field..... Wish us luck..... we need it.......

March 10, 2003

Peter 3:55 PM

I spent the weekend in Stratton VT trying out my new board. It was excellent. The snow and weather conditions were perfect and I spent the entire day freeriding all over the mountain. It took about 2 or 3 runs before I was accustomed to the board but after that I just rocked. The new board is a little longer and more rigid than my other boards but that also equates to being much faster and more stable. I found myself going much faster and carving up the terrain with more precision. On Sunday I spent most of the day in the terrain parks. (Stratton has 4 parks!) The board was extremely stable on the tabletop jumps and I landed every one. I also attempted a few rails. 2 of which I was able to successfully ride over and over without any major problems. The other one, well lets just say that it won the battle this weekend. When I returned, my sister sent me some 'doctored' pictures of me riding at Stratton last year. I must warn you that they are pretty funny. The first picture is how one of my jumps actually looked. The second picture is how the jump actually felt to me. The third picture is what I was actually trying to pull off on this jump..... (I told you they were funny.)

March 6, 2003

Peter 11:23 PM

Just when you thought winter was coming to an end (50 degree weather yesterday) today winter returned (4 inches of fresh snow!) So tonight I got bored and decided to venture to the snowboard shop. I planned on just chillin for a bit, getting a file to tune my board for this weekend and peraps setting up some halp-pipe training. But hey, who can pass up a 50% off sale???? To make a long story short, this weekend at Stratton I will be trying out my new Lib Tech "Matt Cummins" snowboard (159 with switch N type 6061-T6 bindings set at 18 and -12 in case you cared.) It's a longer board than I am used to but I wanted to try something different this time. I'm pretty stoked to try it out, I will give my faithful readers a complete review when I get home.

March 3, 2003

Peter 9:20 PM

First off, I can't believe I am watching "Married By America" on Fox. What a retarded show. But they way I see it, my choices are watch the retards get married or do my taxes..... (Well I suppose I could also change the channel but that would require too mych work.)

Second, and this is soooooooo totally awesome. Today I went to the Home Depot and they now have Self Checkout Lanes! I love the Home Depot. Home Depot, you rock!

March 2, 2003

Peter 11:52 PM

I know everyone is wondering how my birthday was. So let me get rightto it.... My birthday was great. I spent the day with my good friend Steve then in the evening, I went out to dinner with Lynn, Brian, Verrillo, Rebecca, Brett and Matty. We had a good time. Then on Friday a bunch of us went to Park City to see the nerds and to party. My sister really went all out for my birthday, she is the greatest. Check this out, it is a cookie arrangement that my sister sent me. The cookies were all designed as buzzards and they tasted great. What a neat idea. (Except of course for the inference that since I am now 30, I must be getting close to death and hence the buzzards are circling......) Anyway, she got them from a place called Cookies By Design. Check out their site, they have a ton of cookie designs for all occasions.

The rest of the weekend was pretty slow. I had planned on getting some snowboarding in today but it rained. Oh well. Instead I got a ton of crap done that I had been putting off (like posting some new pictures to my website.) Of course the truth is that I am procrastinating from doing my taxes...... Maybe tomorrow.......

February 27, 2003

Peter 11:39 AM

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to Syrus James Terwiligar. Happy Birthday to you.

I bet you thought I was singing to myself. Technically today is my birthday, but in all actuallity, its only the 30th anniversary of my birthday. Today, Feb 27, 2003, is really Syrus' birthday. He was born at 1:30am and he was 10 pounds and 22 inches. Congratulations David, Jennifer and Marley!!!!

So as you probably know by now, today I am the big three zero. And I am also 165 pounds and 67 inches. Wow, thirty years go by so quickly and although I realize that I am merely 1 day older than yesterday I also realize that if time flies the way it has been, I will be 60 in a blink of an eye. That is why for the last year of so I have been putting my priorities in order and planning for my future. The way I see it, life is a waste of time unless you are actually out there living it. Granted I find myself enjoying life locally with my friends and family. I enjoy coaching soccer, snowboarding, going out and even hangin with the kids in the neighborhood. (does this sound like a personal ad yet.....) But there is more to it. Life needs to be lived globally, not just locally.

The next step to living life to its fullest is to travel a lot, meet many new friends and experience all that there is to experience. The main thing that holds people back from fuifilling these dreams is time and money. That is why last year I set a goal to be financially free by age 35. If I don't have to worry about money, then I don't have to work and I can persue life's adventures. When I set the goal last March, it gave me 6 years to attain it, but as time certainly does fly; I am now down to 5 years. So this is the year I get my act in gear and start heading towards my goal. Don't get me wrong, I haven't sat on my but all year and done nothing, I have been laying the foundation to my future all year, but this is the year I actually take the big leap and don't look back. Stay tuned, its sure to be a wild ride and anyone who wishes to come along is more than welcome. Let me know if you want in as the train is about to leave the station and there is no looking back.......

February 23, 2003

Peter 12:28 PM

Oh well, its time to leave. It seems weird to be traveling from 75 degree weather to 37 degree weather. What am I nuts? Nah, who am I kidding, it will be 75 degrees in Jersey in a few months so It will be good to be back to the more traditional "winter." Besides, by then Florida will be hotter than hell.

It will be good to be home. (Except for the sewer problem that Brian just emailed me about......... )

Anyonewant to hit Mountain Creek this week?

February 22, 2003

Peter 12:44 AM

So I'm back in Fort Lauderdale. I spent the week In Yahala Florida in the middle of a field. I spent it hanging with my carney friends and I had a great time, just chillin without a care in the world. It's so strange to have gone from snowboarding in the rockies one day to the 80 degree warmth of the florida everglades the next day. Especially when the later trip was not planned at all.

Last night Todd and I decided to go out and celebrate Matty's birthday. (Seriously, even though Matt was in North Carolina and we were in Florida, we went out to celebrate for him.) We ended up spending the night club hopping at Disney's Pleasure island and we had a blast. It's been way too long since I went out with Todd.

So now I'm back in Fort Lauderdale and I'm gearin up to head back north. It was nice to have this brief "spring" to break up the winter, but I'm already jonsing to get back to the cold and back on the slopes.

February 18, 2003

Peter 2:03 AM

Greetings from Fort Lauderdale Florida. That’s right, you read that correctly. Yesterday I promised you an adventure, well how is this for one….

Today I was supposed to fly home from Denver, but due to a tiny snowstorm that they are calling, “The Blizzard of 2003” my flight was cancelled. So I am at the ticket counter and they tell me that the earliest that I can get a flight into New York is Wednesday night. So I ask the girl where else they are flying to today and she says that the only other flight that they have is to Fort Lauderdale….. So, to make a long story short, I am typing this update from my suite in the Fort Lauderdale Wyndham Resort and Spa. When I woke up this morning, who would have known that by the day’s end I would be staying in a room that has a bidet (sp?) in the bathroom.

Once again, I have come to the conclusion that Spirit air is crappy and I doubt I will fly them again. The airplane was old and you could see parts of the insulation sticking out between the wall panels. The seats were so old that they had ashtrays in the armrests. And the entire airplane rattled as it moved.

As soon as the plane was airborne the guy next to me puts a blanket over his head and goes to sleep “ghost style”. I thought, great another looney. A little while later Ghostman wakes up and looks over at me. I was reading a real estate investing book and he decided that this gives him permission to talk to me. He asks me if I have ever invested in real estate. I try to blow him off, but eventually we get to talking and it turns out that he is a real estate investor and he is actually on his way to close a deal in Florida. He tells me about some businesses he was involved in and he gives me some advice on how to create a business plan and how to run the numbers to see if the real estate venture I am looking at is actually worth investing in. It turned out to be a very educational flight.

After leaving the airport, I called Todd and DJ and they picked me up. As we were looking for a hotel, we ran into a guy who works at a nearby hotel and he gave us the name of the guy to speak to. We went to the hotel and spoke to the guy, who turned out to be the manager. He gave us the room at the employee rate. That’s a saving of like $50.00.

Tomorrow I will make the 8 hour drive to Tampa to chill with some more of my friends for the rest of the week until I take my flight home on Sunday.

Let the adventure continue…….

February 16, 2003

Peter 8:05 PM

Day 3

Day 3 in the Colorado Rockies and once again the day was excellent. Today I spent some time doing some double black bowls as well as the terrain park. I decided to push the envelope a bit and go all out and I have to admit, I was not disapointed. I actually amazed myself with the shit I was pulling off. As a matter of fact, as I was barreling straight down the slope listening to my music I couldn't help but think that at one time I was actually fearful of steep terrain and speed. This week, the only thing that actually came close to scaring me was the stupid poma lift. (If you are a snowboarder and you have ever ridden a poma lift, then you would understand that.) Don't get me wrong, I did some pretty challenging terrain but I know my skills and I am confident in my abilities so I am no longer fearful of the mountain or of the speed that I can attain.

Oh well. Tomorrow I leave for home. The weather forcast for New York (where I am landing) is calling for a massive amount of snow. So tomorrow's trip may in itself be an adventure..... Stay tuned.....

February 15, 2003

Peter 7:14 PM

Day 2

I thought yesterday was exhausting, it doesn’t even begin to compare to today. Today was awesome. It snowed all night so we had some fresh powder as well as some nicely groomed terrain to play with. We spent the morning warming up and then at 10:00 am we decided to try out one of the steepest, most remote bowls that they have. To get to it we took a 10 minute snow cat ride up the mountain. (A snow cat is basically one of the machines that they use to groom the trails. This one had a cab that could hold 12 people and they use it to shuttle people up to the top.) Once we were at the end of the snow cat ride, we had to hike 30 minutes to the peak. Boy was that tiring. If wearing a ton of clothes, carrying a snowboard, and hiking up-hill for 30 minutes isn’t bad enough; now add in the fact that the air up here is thin and therefore we were breathing less oxygen. It felt like I just ran a marathon and I still needed to ride down the cliff. So after a brief rest to catch our breaths we were on our way. The bowl was amazing. It was perhaps the best riding I have ever done. That is until we got about 75% of the way down and we entered the trees. Now I have heard about the powder out west and I thought it was all an exaggeration, but when my board finally came to a stop in the powder up to my waist, I thought to myself, oh crap. Getting out of the deep snow was a chore and at times felt more tiring than the hike up the mountain. There was actually a brief time when the snow was actually up to my chest. Manny had a similar problem about 50 feet from me. We eventually dug ourselves out of the snow and made it back to the nearest lift. By now it was 12:30 and the run was entered into my run book as the longest, most exhausting run I have ever taken. Anyway, the rest of the day was just as fun, although not as strenuous. Tomorrow I think I will spend some time in the park.

[2/14/2003 10:00:00PM | Peter Gallo]

Day 1

What a day I had today. I spent the entire day on the fresh powder. Last night we got 2 - 4 fresh inches and it was so awesome. It was like the snowboard was a warm knife and the mountain was butter. Actually, change that, butter is stupid... lets say the mountain was ice cream, vanilla, and the snowboard was still a hot knife. Well you get the point.... It sliced so smoothly over the mountain.....

Anyways, the terrain we rode today was extremely challenging, especially since we spent a lot of time in the double black diamond bowls in the back country. Man I'm so exhausted. But the thrill of the dangerous terrain was worth the trip. Even the resort knows how much danger rocks. They had plenty of signs along the back country bowls that read, "DANGER, ROCKS!"

It's still snowing so tomorrow is gearing up to be as promising as today.

February 14, 2003

Peter 6:57 PM

[Actually it was 2/13/2003 6:15:00 PM. The time above represents the time it was posted...]

Let me ask you this, what does it mean when a flight is "in range?" I ask because as I type this, I am sitting in the Denver airport directly across from the screens that tell the status of all of the flights coming into the airport. Now I understand what On Time means and there are like 50 flights that say that. I also understand when it says Arrived and I estimate that there are like 30 flights with that status. Additionally there are about 30 flights that say delayed and they have an estimated time next to them. But then there is 1 flight, Frontier Flight #612 from Albuquerque as a matter of fact that simply says "In Range." Hmmmm Its 6:20pm now and the flight is supposed to land at 6:30 so I guess I will just sit here and wait to see how this flight turns out.

Not that I really care, but I am waiting for Manny to arrive so I have nothing better to do than stare at this screen. It sure beats walking around the airport with my luggage, including my snowboard bag which is rather large.

Say, did they just page Mr. Larry Bird? If so, he has to pick up a white curtousy phone.

So this is my 1st time in Denver, or Colorado for that matter and so far all I have seen is the airport. It's rather large, larger than any we have back home and its in the middle of nowhere. Which is interesting because I thought Denver was a city. I guess calling this the Denver airport is a stretch as it dosen't appear to actually be in Denver. I guess I am just used to airports being where they say the are. I mean, hell, New York City has 2 airports right smack in the city.

So my flight was interesting. I took Spirit airlines for the first time. It was ok except the plane was kind of old looking and the seats were really cramped and the flight staff would rather hang out in the back of the plane than provide service. On second thought, I guess it wasn't really that ok. The 1st leg of my trip was from Laguardia Airport to Detroit. I was a little worried when as we were leaving New York the pilot came on the speakers to announce the info about the flight and he concluded it by saying "... as always, please be sure to keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times." All things considered, that leg of the trip was not bad. The woman next to me didn't say a word and I liked it that way. But that wasn't what the cards had in store for the second, longer, leg of the trip.

After we landed in Detroit some people got off, including the aformentioned lady, and new people got on. This time I got stuck next to some fat smelly guy who wanted to be friends. As we are pushing back from the gate he decided to tell me that his friend is a Pilot and he gets to fly for free. I told him that he had a great deal and couldn't complain. To this he remarked that he still could complain because he is an ass. The rest of the flight was spent proving to me how much of an ass he was. Assman then goes on to tell me that most of Spirit's fleet is made up of re-conditioned airplanes from an Arizona aircraft junkyard. Gee thanks, I really didn't need to know that info. Especially as we are hurling 800 Miles Per Hour at 30,000 feet.

After we were airborn, the pilot gets on the speakers and informs us that "... according to our wiz bang computer up here we should be in Denver in approximately 2 hours and 54 minutes..." to which the woman across the asile complained to the stewardess that the flight time estimate was too long. As if the "wiz bang" computer could be wrong. Besides what was the stewardess going to do about it. Call the pilot and tell him to speed things up for this lady.

By the way, the flight from Albuquerque just landed.

So as we are flying we hit some turbulance. Assman next to me turns to me and says, "Arizona junkyard." Then he begins this evil laughter. This time I decide its time to put on some headphones and pretend I'm listening to music. That works for a little while except for when we cross the Missouri River and Assman has to point it out to me.

About 2 hours into the trip, Assman needs to go to the lavatory. He decides to go to the one in the front of the plane. After 10 minutes elapses he passes by, this time going to the one in the rear of the plane. Apparently the one in the front has been occupied by someone for a while and he got tired of waiting.. As he passes by he decides to tell me that someone must have died in the front bathroom. This causes the woman in the row behind me to scream, "Oh My God!" I guess I should have explained that she was afraid of flying and that his little joke didn't help much. Of course after seeing her reaction to his news he goes on to tell her the "Arizona Junkyard" story. He sure has no problem living up to his Assman reputation. I won't even bother going into the entire pretzel incident.......

After his visit to the lavatory he decides to explain to me his thoery on how Lacross players are really good athletes but he still thinks water polo players are more athletic. (Seriously, I can't make this shit up.) The conversation then turns to how he would like to see more soccer in Division one College and less Baseball. Wow, how American. Now before you accuse me of leading this guy into conversation, I must tell you that I don't think I said anything to him the whole trip except to nod and agree to whatever he was saying.

Finally it came time to land. "This is your captain speaking, on behalf of Spirit airlines, Myself and the rest of the crew, my x-wife, my future wife, my kids and the Ohama Mutual Mortgage Company, I would like to thank you for flying with us today." After waiting for 26 rows of people to get off, I was finally rid of Assman forever. Oh so I hope. Which leads me to this bench and my wasting of time.

By the way, if you are waiting for United flight #6880 from Wichita, it is now listed as cancelled.

They just paged Mr. Bird again.

February 11, 2003

Peter 1:50 AM

This weekend set yet another milestone within my sphere of friends and their accomplishments. On Saturday Brett finally gave in and bought himself a snowboard. It's really a nice board. It's a Ride Mountain 159 with Vans boots and Salomon bindings. Then on Sunday we all trecked up to the mountain and everyone of my friends impressed me to no end. Leo is now linking turns nicely, Linda made it more than 3/4 of the way down without falling and get this, Brett made it off the learning slope for a run on the "big people's hill." Way to go Brett! But enough of this bunny hill we call Mountain Creek. On Thursday I leave for Copper Mountain in the Colorado Rockies. That is where the real fun begins!

In other news... What's the deal with this Iraq crap. Here is my take on the situation. Bush says that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and that they have to show them to us. Saddam says they don't have them so they can't show them to us. Bush says that if you don't show them to us we will go to war. Let me ask you this... What good will that do? I suppose if we go to war and Saddam has the weapons he claims to not have, he will use them on us and we will get to see them. Hmmm I guess its one way to get what we want. But that point aside, why should Saddam even bother to show us his weapons. Do we show other countries ours? And what about our war with Bin Laden..... what even happened to that. We couldn't find him so we decide to fight someone else to distract the Americans to the fact that he is still at large. And how about this Korea thing. Dude, they HAVE the weapons and seem to be becomming more and more of a threat. but that also need to be ignored that for now because Bush Jr wants to fight a battle for his daddy.

Wow I must be getting old to be caring about and discussing politics. I apologize for that brief mental lapse. I now return you to your regularly scheduled web surfing already in progress.

February 5, 2003

Peter 11:12 AM

This is interesting and I wanted to share it with you, my favorite website readers......

Lets say you have a 3/4 inch pipe that runs from the street into your house. Lets also say that at the end of this pipe you have a shower head. Now assume you are in the shower singing or perhaps cleaning out your nostrals. You might even be contemplating life or planning out your day. In any event, you are relaxing in the soothing warm stream of a substance we call H 2 0. Now, lets say that somewhere between the street and the shower an evil monster taps into this lifeline of goodness with something that resembles a washing mashine and that beast decides that while you are cleaning yourself so nicely, they need to clean one or more of their tattered pieces of clothing. Well, naturally the liquid will take the shortest path and all but re-direct itself to the big white spinning device leaving you with a cold trickle of what once was heaven.

Moral of the story....
1. This one goes without saying -> Never put your cat into the waching machine or dryer
2. Aparently this one does not -> When someone is in the shower, please be considerate and don't start your laundry until they are out.

The preceeding public service announcement has been brought to you today compliments of one of my roomates Sunday night and then another one of them this morning. Thanks guys!

February 3, 2003

Peter 10:10 AM

Have you ever opened up your car door, stepped out of the car and then slid right under the door? Me neither, except for that one time yesterday.... here is the story: We had just arrived in the parking lot at Mountain Creek when Linda opens her door and slips on the parking lot, which is a sheet of ice. Naturally I think its funny and I laugh and think what a fool. Anyway, to make a long story short, I open my door, step out onto the ice and the next thing I know, I'm under the car door. To make things worse, the people in the car next to me had a front row seat to the entire event. I must have looked like an even bigger fool than Linda. Too bad I didn't get it on video, it could have won america's the prize on America's Funniest Videos. As Linda put it, she saw me open the car door and then disappear. I think I would have been embarrased except that it was so funny, I couldn't stop laughing. In any event, I am ok. Thanks for your concern. (You better have been concerned!)

In other exciting news, another one of my friends has seen the light! Thats right, yesterday Leo bought his 1st snowboard! My hunch is that Brett is next. (Come on Brett, you know you wanna do it!) I cant wait to take Leo out on the new setup, which by the way is a Salomon Forecast 159 with Vans boots and snow jam bindings. Note to the following foolish skiers ->Dave and Steve.... Get off your lazy asses and try it already! You won't regret it! I gurantee it!

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a happy belated Candlemas day. Candlemas day, for those who don't know it, was yesterday, Feb 2nd. (It's also 40 days after Christmas and marks the half way point in the winter season.) Tradition has it that if a borrowing animal sees his shadow on Candlemas day there will be 6 more weeks of winter. This borrowing animal has generally been a groundhog, and hence the day has been more widely known as Groundhog's Day. Yesterday Phil the groundhog saw his shadow so bring on another 6 weeks of winder! Sweet! For more on the history of Candlemas Day click here. To learn more about Groundhog's Day Click here. I bet you didn't expect to learn anything useful when you clicked on my website today.......

January 30, 2003

Peter 7:52 PM

Well I'm back home, safe and sound (in case you were worried.) I had planned on sleeping on my flight and then hitting the day running when we landed at 6am this morning. But that didn't happen. Oh well, its a good thing I didn't schedule anything for this morning or I would have slept through it...... Now where did I leave off.... Oh yea, Tuesday night. After we ate dinner, Kris wanted to sing. Aparently he is a karaoke junkie. So we found a Bar (or a private club, as they are called in Utah) and I got to watch Kris make a fool of himself in front of all 10 people that were present. I guess karaoke isn't that popular in Utah on a Tuesday night. Anyways, while Kris was singing I got to meet Harley Dude. Not sure what his real name was nor do I care but for some reason he had to tell me his whole life story and the reasons he wasn't singing karaoke that night. I will spare you the details. This guy was almost as entertaining as Kris.

Wednesday we woke up bright and early and went snowboarding at The Canyons. (www.thecanyons.com) This was our second time at this resort as we stayed here last winter just prior to the Olympics. As always, the snow and terrain was excellent. I wish we had snow and mountains like that here. I suppose I could always move to Utah, but then I'd have to convert to Mormonism. After tearing up the acres and acres of snow, we spent the last hour and a half in the terrain park. According to Transworld Snowboarding magazine, The Canyon's terrain park is among the top 10 in the country and #1 in Utah. I don't exactly know how they came up with that. Don't get me wrong, the park was good, but I have to say honestly that Mountain Creek's is better. I would have guessed that Mountain Creek would, by that logic, be in the top 9. But it wasn't. Oh well, what do I know. Click here for complete listings of the top 10 parks and pipes.

Time to plan my next trip.

January 28, 2003

Peter 9:52 PM

Greetings from UTAH! You read that right, I'm in Utah. I needed to get some good snowboarding in so I traveled to Mormon territory and to the Wasatch Mountains. Actually it was a spur of the moment trip. I decided to go on Friday so I booked my flight and here I am. I met up with my friend Kris who was out here for work this week and we spent the day riding at Park City. (www.parkcitymountain.com) It was awesome, they have so much terrain it makes Mountain Creek look like a speed bump. And the fresh, untouched powder is like nothing you can imagine..... Well I guess you could imagine it, but it's just a saying; deal with it. Let me tell you about my trip so far.....

Monday I went to JFK airport, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It only took 1 hour to get there and this was in rush hour traffic. Then as I was walking through the terminal with my snowboard, I wondered to myself..... Is this how the pros travel.... anyways when I got to the ticket counter the guy checking in my luggage started to talk to me about snowboarding and then asked if I was a pro. I should have said yes. That would have been cool. But instead I settled for a "not yet..."

Next I boarded the plane. I was a little worried about the flight because I was flying a small airline that I have never flown before. But it was 75% cheaper than all the other flights I found so I settled for Jet Blue.(www.jetblue.com) And get this.... Jet Blue Rocks. It is the coolest airline I have ever flown. Aside from being inexpensive, all of their planes are brand new. All the seats are Leather and roomie. And the best luxtury is that at every seat there is a direct TV monitor with like 20 channels that you can watch for FREE. So I spent the flight watching NBC's monday night lineup. (I was a little disapointed that Conan was a repeat....) Another neat channel that the TVs had was a live feed from a GPS. It showed exactly where in the country the plane was, what our altitude and speed were, and the direction we were traveling. It ended up giving me a quick geography lesson. Who knew that I'd be flying through Missouri. The terminal was just as cool as they had monitors showing where all of the Jet Blue flights were at any given moment.

Anyways today I decided to try riding a new stance. For you non-snowboarder losers out there, a stance is simply the way you stand on the board. (For more info on stance click here. When I first started riding, I rode 30 degrees on my front foot (left foot because I ride regular) and 15 degrees on my back foot. As I got better I changed it to 21 Front and 0 rear. Today I tried out two different stances and I setteled for 21 Front and negative 12 rear. I think it feels more comfortable and it was allowing me to try some new shit out. It also greatly inproved my switch riding. By the end of the day I found myself riding switch down a black diamond mogule trail with ease.... I was stoked. Anyway, if you didn't understand any of that then I guess it was not meant for you.

Tomorrow we are going to ride some glades and more powder and then its time to catch the red-eye flight back home.

See you soon.

December 28, 2002

Peter 8:21 PM

Today I hit Mountain Creek for a few hours and I got to try out my new MP3 player on the mountain. It was sooo cool. I actually think it helped me perform better on my board, not to mention it kept me well entertained :) While riding I managed to hit a number of rails and small jumps and I had no problems. The snow was excellent and amazingly there was no crowd. I totally expected there to be wall to wall people but it was less crowded today, Saturday, than it was last Thursday. Go figure.

December 26, 2002

Peter 11:21 PM

Yesterday was Christmas and it snowed. It was the 1st white Christmas I have ever experienced and I have to tell you, it wasn't all that special. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the snow; It's just that snow on Christmas is supposed to be special and this was just like snow on any other day.... Actually there is something about shoveling heavy snow on Christmas day that is a major turn-off.

Naturally Yesterday's snow REQUIRED today's trip to Mountain Creek to take in some snowboarding. I brought a couple of the "boyz" from "da hood" up for their 1st snowboarding experiences and we all had a good time. The conditions couldn't have been better. Mountain Creek got over a foot of fresh snow yesterday so the trails were very well covered. Especially since they have been making snow all week. (see my links page to find a link that shows you how they make "artifical" snow. It's pretty interesting.) Although it was a bit crowded at the lifts the slopes were not too bad. In all it was a great day.

Speaking of Christmas, I received a lot of neat presents from my friends and family and I spent the entire day among them (my friends and family not the presents...) I could go on, but after a long day on the mountain I really need to get some sleep. Pleasent dreams.......

December 20, 2002

Peter 7:09 PM

Today I received a letter from Cablevision, my Cable company, informing me that in January they will be providing me with 2 new channels. Woo Hoo, new channels - at least that was my 1st impression, then I read on. The new channels are the "Speed Channel" and the" Women's Entertainment" channel. Hmmmm What exactly are these? One sounds like a drug channel or a channel that may only show movies with Keanu Reeves trying to save a bus load of people. Women's Entertainment? Don't I already get that? It's called the food network.

Here is another curious thing. In order to give me these 2 new channels, they are moving 42, thats right FORTY-TWO, channels around.... Just when I finally started memorizing the cable channel lineup, they are changing it again. Whats the point? What difference does it make to the cable company if MTV2 is on channel 42 or 55? Go figure....

December 19, 2002

Peter 12:41 AM

As I was sitting home contemplating the winter and how much fun Snowboarding is, I started remembering how it all began...... (insert memory flashback here)

It all started Sophmore year in college when my then roomate Bob McKenna convinced me to try skiing. So during christmas break I went up to Vernon Valley with Bob and Mark Vido and I put on Skis for the 1st time. That would have been December 1992. The next year I bought my own set of Fischer Skis and I joined the Ski Team. I joined the team basically so I could get free lessons and a discount on a season pass to Vernon Valley. I advanced in skiing through my senior year in which I became the captain of the ski team. After that season I decided to try something different. So in February of 1996 I first stepped on a snowboard. I enjoied it immediately, not because of how cool it was, but because if the challenge it gave me. I enjoied how each and every time I went snowboarding I would learn something new and I could walk away from the mountain feeling like I've gotten better and that I've accomplished something. That is the very thing that was missing with skiing and why I needed to try something new.

On December 30, 1997 I purchased my 1st snowboard, a Rusty 156, for $687.94. This board was great and it taught me everything I needed to learn. For 4 years I rode this board and never once did it give me any problems. Then in January of 2002 I decided it was time to upgrade to a new board, one that would allow me to go on to the next level. So on Jan 16, 2002 I purchased my 2nd snowboard, a K2 Zeppelin 154, for $741.99. Immediatly I found myself getting better, what a difference this new board and boot combo made. I am now in my 2nd season on this board and I still feel like I'm growing. This season I plan to tackle the half-pipe and rails once and for all. At the end of last season I started playing in the pipe and with some jumps and I had a blast. I can't wait to see what this season has in store..... (end flashback mode)

Anyways, the whole point of this was that I was reminising on how I had skiied for 4 years and I am now going into my 7th year on my snowboard. My skis bored me after only 4 years whereas I keep finding new things to learn and new challenges to overcome on my snowboard. That is why snowboarding rocks so much, and perhaps why I enjoy it as much as I do.

If you haven't tried it, do it! I will teach you if you like as long as you agree to "Gallo's 3 trip rule." Basically it states that you must try it 3 times within a relatively short period of time (say 4 to 6 weeks) before you can decided that you don't like it. I guarantee that you will be hooked though. I base my 3 trip rule on the following observation: The 1st day everything is new and your balance is off and you fall alot. The 2nd day you gain your balance and you get the feeling of wow, I may actually be able to do this. The 3rd day you spend more time on the board and less time on your butt. You even get started on some carving if you are up to it, It's this trip that you say, damn snowboarding rocks. Trust me!

December 14, 2002

Peter 5:02 PM

I just finished watching Taken. It's a SciFi mini series presented by Steven Spielberg. It was excellent even though it was 20 hours long. I didn't plan to actually watch it but after I watched the 1st 2 hour episode I was hooked. As a matter of fact, last Saturday I watched 8 hours of it straight thru. (I know, I have no life.....) Anyways I just wanted to mention that it was really really good. I normally don't care much for Scirnce Fiction movies, but this one was excellent. If you missed it, it sucks to be you! I suppose if you are interested you could borrow the my VHS tape that I made so my roomate can watch it.

In other news, I managed to make it out to Hunter mountain last week. They recieved over 12 inches of new snow the night before so the conditions were excellent. It was the 1st day that the half pipe and terrain park were open so we got to play around in it under ideal conditions. If the weather keeps up the way it has been the last few weeks, this will turn out to be one of the best snowboard seasons ever.

I still haven't started Christmas shopping yet, nothing like procrastinating huh. Hey, there are still 10 days left.... plenty of time......

December 9, 2002

Peter 10:30 PM

Today I mailed out Christmas cards. In them I posted my web URL. I'm such a nerd. Then again, if you are reading this because you read it in a Christmas card you recieved -> cool! It worked! Speaking of Christmas, there are only 15 shopping days left 'till Christmas and I haven't even started. I don't even know who I have to buy for. Ahh, the holidays. Gotta love em.

December 4, 2002

Peter 10:02 PM

Happy December! Its Freezing out there and as I type this we are expecting snow. AWESOME! Speaking of snow, I traveled up to Stratton Vermont last weekend for some early season snowboarding. It was excellent. The conditions were great and there were no crowds. I am also pretty proud of myself. Here's why: This season I decided I would like to learn to do the rail. In case you are totally clueless, the rail is a pipe or similar object that is put into the snow and then you ride on it. (I may have over simplified that, but it's not important) Anyways, I set myself up to take the entire season to learn it but on my 2nd day out I successfully rode it from end to end. Woo Hoo. Granted it was nothing special, but its a start, especially for my 1st time out for the season.

I would like to take this moment to tell anyone out there that does not snowboard that YOU SUCK. You don't know what you are missing, It's so awesome. Skiiers, you should all try it, I guarantee that you will not go back to your two lousy planks.. Anyone who wants lessons, let me know and I will teach you. One of these days I will post an excellent snowboard article I read in Vermont. It sums it up nicely. But not now. (Its a hook to keep you coming back for more......)

Until next time.... Rock on!

October 22, 2002

Peter 11:51 PM

Greetings to all my peeps. (that would be you...) Let me 1st apologize if this message ends up being all weird, but I am on drugs rite now. NO not the good kind. I'm on pain killers. Today I got 2 of my wisdom teeth pulled out. It was weird, 1st the dentist gave me "laughing gas" and I felt like I was floating then he gave me an injection and then I woke up 30 mins later and I was missing 2 teeth. That is scary, that there exists such a drug that will knock you out and take away any memory of the time you were out. Then again, I guess it beats being awake and in pain. Still, its kinda scary. Makes you wonder how they first discovered this miracle drug and how they 1st tested it..... But enough about that.

My roomate just walked by and he recognized the blogger window and told me that I shouldn't be typing because the drugs will make my post make no sense. Good old brian, always looking out for me. Thanks bro, but I'm on to you. You just want people to read your site and not mine. How rude! I bet you were even expecting a plug and a link to your site. Well It's not gonna happen. I would have to be pretty drugged up to even mention www.briandickens.net or make a link to it.

In other news, I finally finished Dahl's wedding video. I had to pull an all nighter to do it, but its done. Not that you care (unless you are a Dahl, then you probably care.) That takes care of one of my procrastinations...... Too bad I haven't started on the others. It would have been nice to know Italian yesterday as I met a very nice Italian girl and I was trying to understand her.

Hey, its almost midnite - time to take more drugs!!!!!! Woo Hoo.

September 23, 2002

Peter 9:07 PM

Don't you love it when you find out that something you bought has an added feature that you didn't even know about? I recently found out that my Sharp LCD projector has such a feature. You see, when the bulb burns out it alerts you and everyone else in the house by loudly EXPLODING into millions of pieces. Whats up with that? This projector is not even a year old yet and the bulb has exploded on it 2 times already. This sux. I called Sharp and the fool on the phone said, "Well that shouldn't happen." NO SHIT, now fix it! Now I have to wait 2 to 3 weeks just to have a stupid bulb installed. You'd think that they would make them user changeable, especially if they are going to explode every 6 months.

In other news, I think I have a disease that has no name. We should call it Gallos Disease. The symptoms are pretty easy to spot. Lets say that you need 1 thing at the store and this 1 thing will cost you about $10.00. Then lets say that you go to the store to buy the 1 thing and you end up leaving the store with more than $200.00 worth of things that you didn't need. Then you have Gallos Disease. There is no cure for this disease. I suppose you could go to the store and only bring 10.00, but thats cheating.

Speaking of diseases that run in my house if you feel the need to believe everything you read about nature and the Earth and you spend $300.00 to ground your mattress to the earth 2 stories down, then you have GeoffreyScottStuart disease. Here is the medication needed to treat GeoffreyScottStuart disease -> EarthTether

September 17, 2002

Peter 11:09 AM

I just ate lunch. I know, you really didn't need to know that but I decided to tell you that anyway because it explains why I am posting. You see, I can't just eat, I have to do something while I eat. Since there was nothing on TV at 11:00am (I know, who eats lunch at 11:00am???) I decided to surf the web. Eventually I ended up on my roomate's site and he put me to shame. This is because he posts at least 2 to 3 times a week and here I am with my last post over 3 weeks ago. Its not that nothing cool or interesting has happened lately, its just that I procrastinate too much.

I know that this is a problem of mine. I even bought a book to learn how to stop procrastinating. But it didn't help.... I am procrastinating so much that I haven't even opened it up. Here is a partial list of things I have been meaning to do that I just can't seem to get around starting:

1. Edit the Dahl's wedding video (due in less than 1 month)
2. Learn how to use AfterEffects peoperly (I spent enough money on the software and the books, all I really need is time)
3. Sign up for fall night classes (they start next week)
4. Build a wall in the front yard (On my list for 3 years now)
5. redesign my basement (kind of started it, I bought a new couch and a table, so thats a start rite???)
6. Learn Italian (I still have 4 years before I expect to need it, so I guess I am allowed to procrastinate)
7. Become financially independant before the age of 35 (I have over 5 years to worry about this, but I suppose I should have started this already....)
8. Finish my kitchen (If you have seen it you would probably say it is done, but I know the few remaining things that I still need to do.)
9. go back on my diet (I stopped it for the summer, but now the summer is over.. .so what's my excuse this week???)
10. Close Kevin's Pool (I told him I would be over in 5 mins, this was before I started eating lunch and doing this shit.... sorry Kevin.... I'm on my way)

August 27, 2002

Peter 11:00 PM

I really need to get to sleep earlier in the day, that way I wouldn't stay up so late watching infomercials. I mention this because in May or June I saw an infomercial for a motorized awning..... (can you see where this is going....) Anyways, It arrived this weekend and I installed it this evening, and I must say its pretty cool. Perhaps tomorrow I will take a picture of it and post it for all to see, or perhaps you should just come over and see it for yourself.

Speaking of infomercials..... Here are some of my personal observations:

The Craftsman bits that you use to take out stripped screws really rock!

Oxy clean really cleans the carpet, except when you clean a dirty spot from the carpet, that sopt becomes so clean that you end up with a clean spot on a dirty carpet..... (which is just as bad)

The Dremel is not as exciting as they make it out to be.

Proactive clears up acne, but who wants to go through the daily cleaning ritual.....

We won't even mention the ab-tronic thingie... that was just money flushed right into the toilet. (It scares me)

Robert Kiyosaki's books are pretty good and inspiring.

The time life 80s collection rocks.

Restore 4, well who knows, that one is still on order.

Oh well, its 11pm; time to watch some tv.

August 15, 2002

Peter 10:26 PM

This is what happens when you piss off my sister... You get a slanderous AOL IM away message posted about you:

Auto response from Dxxxxxxx (10:22:08 PM): I am 3 miles North because someone wont drive 3 miles South to do me a favor, so I am using this space here to complain and tell you all never to visit www.pgallo.com cause that website is a big fraud and scam,... he takes your name and puts in on mass emailing lists so you get nothing but chain letters..

August 6, 2002

Peter 5:12 PM

What a beautiful day it was today. I mean the last few days have been like a bazillion degrees out but today its like 75. (Perfect Hammock weather.....) Anyways, today you are in for a treat because I am about to try the new Vanilla Coke. It is sitting in a cup (red, plastic, bought at the price club) and it has 2 ice cubes in it (the kind that look like half moons, not the square ones.) Anyways, I have never tried it and today while at Walmart buying the Simpsons Season 2 DVD (Yeah Simpsons!!!!) I saw it and I decided to buy it.... So here goes nothing.....

Hmm. My 1st impression is that it tastes like cream soda. Actually on second thought it tastes like a watered down cream soda. If I wanted watered down cream soda I would have bought some and added water. Let me try it again....

Nope still the same. Actually I think its starting to taste worse. Oh well. I tried it and I'm not impressed by it. So on a scale of 1 to suck, it rates: Watered down cream soda.

Now I will go lie in my hammock. By now you must think I'm obsessed with it as this is the 5th post about hammocks in a row..... Sorry about that, but that is what I am going to go do. I didn't want to lie to you and tell you that I was gonna go out back and dig a hole when I am really gonna lie and relax. (Is gonna a word?)

July 21, 2002

Peter 9:49 PM

What a lazy ass I was this weekend. I spent over 6 hours in my hammock. Damn it was comfy...... I also finished a 400 page book while doing so. I don't think I have ever read so many pages in such a short time frame. In any case, it was a great book. The book is 'The Afterlife Experiments' written by Gary E. Schwartz, Ph.D. Basically he is a scientist who set out to prove or disprove through documented and repeatable scientific experiments whether or not the energies (or soul) or the living continue to exist after someone dies. It makes for a very good read as he dosen't set out to prove that there is life after death (he is actually a skeptic), only to create tests and to study their results. If you are open to the possibility that the soul lives forever, then I recommend you check out this book.

In other events, Matty Mo suggested that I post a picture of the week each week to keep things interesting. So today I posted the 1st picture of the week. I intend to change it weekly. In the future it will be a current picture, but for the time being its a oldie (but a goodie.)

Any other suggestions???? Feel free to email them to me.

July 20, 2002

Peter 11:00 AM

I hate the NJ turnpike and the fact that IKEA is so far away. This week I bought new furnature for my basement. IKEA had the shit I needed so I traveled there on Wednesday and bought it. Then after putting it together, I decided that I needed 1 more cabinet, so Thursday morning I went back to get it. I brought it home and put it together and then realized that I wanted more shelves to go in the cabinets.. ARGGgggg back to IKEA. 3 trips to IKEA in 2 days... Then to top it all off, on Friday I had to drive my roomates to the airport.... NJ turnpike here we come again......

In other news, today I installed the 2nd Hammock and tried it out, ZZzzzzzzz... it works perfectly. The Hammock rental shop is now open for business. Oh did I mention how nerdy Pete Verrillo is? When I told him that I was going to hang a 2nd hammock from a pole designed for 1, he asked me if I was sure it could handle it. I told him in my (expert?) opinion, that it would. But that wasn't good enough for the mechanical engineer in him. So he went home, and being the nerd that he is, he created this analysis of the structural forces that 2 hammocks would put on a pole designed for on. Actually its pretty funny. I recommend you read it..... The bottom line was that yes, it would work.

Oh well, time to return to the hammocks.

July 18, 2002

Peter 1:47 AM

Today I took 3 showers. It must have been a record for me, I don't think I ever took 3 showers in one 12 hour period. Actually it was more like a 9 hour span. You see I woke up and showered. Then I went driving to find the UPS man to get my packages that I was waiting for. (Yes I was impatient but its for a good cause as I will explain in a second.) Then I came home, and did some yard work. Then I decided to go to IKEA but I was dirty, so I showered again. Then I went to IKEA and spent money. After I came home, I decided that I needed to do some more yard work. Then I had a meeting to go to, so naturally there was another shower to be had. Not as interesting as you thought it would be, huh....

Anyways, the hammock rocks soooo much, that I decided I shouldn't be selfish. So I bought a 2nd hammock. (Now I can charge 2 people at a time, I just doubled my hammock income!) Before I can use the hammock, I needed to cement 2 poles into the ground. These poles happened to be on a UPS truck today, and I wanted to get them cemented as early as possible. (That way I can lie out in the hammock sooner!) Of course, now that the posts are ready for use, its gonna rain the rest of the week..... it figures.....

July 13, 2002

Peter 11:56 PM

Last week, I was browsing through a catalog when I came upon a hammock and I thought, "How cool would it be to have a hammock!" So one thing led to another and I ordered it. It arrived this week and I installed it. Damn, its the coolest thing!!! It's so relaxing, I want to get rid of my bed and put a Hammock in its place. (Perhaps I will.) Today I spent 4 hours in the thing! ITS SOOOO AWESOME. Everyone who has come over and tried it out has dozed off in it. I should take reservations and charge rent! I'd be rich....

July 9, 2002

Peter 12:00 AM

This totally sucks -> As of today, the Lodi Home Depot is no longer open 24 hours. Not that I used to go at all hours of the night, but it was good to know that I could have..... You never know when you will get the urge to do some construction.

In other news, today I took not 1 but 2 Slimy showers. Woo Hoo, Slimy Showers!

July 8, 2002

Peter 12:42 AM

Ok so its been a while since I last posted, but that is because I have been out researching the topic of slimy water (see the post on Feb 11th.) Fear not, all was not wasted as now I have the answer! (sorry Julie, you were wrong and you must return your prize.) It turns out that water has millions of tiny microroganisms in it. Normally when you wash yourself with soap and water, the soap gets rid of the dirt and you feel clean, right? WRONG! you are clean but your skin feels "squeeky" because of the microroganisms. Now assume you were able to remove these microorganisms from the water. Then you would be truely clean and that feeling is "slimy." Ok, so I am sure I am not explaining this properly but you will have to trust me. The slime is your body's natural oils etc.... Anyways it turns out that the hotel we stayed at in Utah, the Marriot, had a water filtration system in the building. This system removed the microroganisms and hence we had slimy clean showers. Now to go one step further in proving this to the many dis-believers out there, this weekend we had a water filtration system installed in our house... and guess what.... now we have the same Slimy showers in New Jersey too!!!! So the moral is, if you want clean water without the microroganisms, go stay at a Marriot (apparently they all use the same filtration system) or come visit us.

February 22, 2002

Peter 2:06 AM

The pictures are done! They have been cropped, organized, and labeled. You can go see all 110 of them in the picture section! Wahoo!

Today it was 70 degrees outside, but I refused to go outside and enjoy it. That's right. I am boycotting mother nature because it is February! FEBRUARY!!!!! Its not supposed to be 70 degrees outside. Don't get me wrong, I like weather when it is 70 degrees out, but only in the Spring and Fall. This is the WINTER, it is supposed to be COLD!!!!!!! If you want warm weather in the Winter, move South!

Simpsons Road Rage still rocks.

February 21, 2002

Peter 12:40 AM

Apparently I took like 300 pictures during the trip to Utah, and I figure that is too many to post here. So I have been working on narrowing it down to around 100. I have also been resampling the images at a smaller resolution. Needless to say that is taking a lot of time to do so there has been a slight delay in posting the pictures. But fear not, you will see them all soon.......

In other events, today I got a letter returned to me marked "Return to Sender for Address!" That's right, I was a dumbass and I mailed a letter out with the return address, but I forgot to address it. Must be the old age starting to settle in....

Finally, today I bought my 1st Nintendo Game Cube game, Simpsons Road Rage (naturally.) This game rocks. I think I am addicted, which is not a good thing; especially when I have tons of fans waiting for me to post pictures to my website and I am busy playing games.... Ok so I may have exaggerated, but I know of at least 1 person waiting to see the pictures, so at least I know I am loved by someone. (Thanks mom)

February 11, 2002

Peter 2:13 AM

Utah - Day 7. Today was definately a long one. We woke up at the crack of dawn and drove out to Park City to see the Women's Halfpipe competition. Let me tell you, it rocked. These chicks can fly. I only wish I could be as good as them. Just when we thought it couldn't get any better, Kelly Clark (USA) from Vermont Stole the gold in the very last run of the event. She scored a 47.9 out of 50! And get this, she is only 18 years old. Damn. After the event we hung out in Park City for a while and then we got on a line to get back to the car. It took us almost 2 hours standing in line. If there were 1 thing that really sucks about the Olympics it is all the lines we need to stand in. Security lines, Bus lines, ticket lines, bathroom lines...... But it is all worth it. Its an experience I will never forget and one that I hope I can repeat in the future.

This evening we went to the medals ceremony and watched Kelly get her gold medal. We also saw 2 free concerts today. We saw Lit at Park City and Lifehouse in Salt Lake City. Actually we also saw a drum line perform in Park City, so does that count as 3???? After the ceremony we hung out in the Olympic plaza, saw some exhibits and did some shopping.

Its been a long week but a fun one. I am sad to be going home, but I am happy for the experience of a lifetime that I had. I will miss being here in the center of things, New Jersey seems so far away..... Then again, I cant wait to get home and get a real shower. The ones out here are slimey. How else can I explain them. Its like when you wash yourself and you have soap on you, so you rinse yourself off until you feel clean. Well out here, the water is weird and no matter how much rinsing you do, you never feel clean. You feel like the soap is still on you, slimey. I wonder why that is. If you have any idea let me know.... email me the correct reason and I will give you a prize of some sort.

Anyways, I catch a flight in about 8 hours so I guess I should do some packing, take a slimey shower and get some sleep. Check back soon as I plan to have the pictures that I took this week posted within the week.

February 10, 2002

Peter 2:26 AM

Utah - Day 6. I can't believe I have been here a week already, time is flying. Today we slept in for a change, then we got rid of Kris, I mean we drove him to the airport. Afterwords we went to an Olympic Hockey Match between Germany and Slovakia. It was interesting being among people from other countries, they have different customs and chants. We tried to fit in, but I'm sure we were not as good as we thought we were. The match was good, Germany won.

This evening we went into downtown Salt Lake City to the Budweiser Beer festival. It took us over an hour to get through security. Once inside they had a skating rink, a live band, food and of course beer. It was interesting because for some reason, the Utah Liquor laws did not seem to apply to this event.

Not to much to say today so I will keep this short. Oh, by the way, if you travel to Japan any time soon, be sure to check out their coverage of the Olympics as we were filmed yesterday by a Japaneese TV crew. They walked past us, stopped, came back and told us to look in to camera.... Look out Mr Sparkle......

February 9, 2002

Peter 2:27 AM

Utah - Day 5. Man has it been a long day. We got up at 5:30 and we were on our way to the Olympic Park by 6:00am. We got there befoore 7am and then spent the next 3 hours standing on a cold, windy and snowy mountain. Finally they decided to postpone the event so we walked back down the mountain (1 mile) and back to the car. Although it may sound like a sucky start to the day, we had fun. It was something we had never done or experienced before. The event was supposed to be a ski jump trial so we at least got to see what a real ski jump ramp looks like. I can sum it up in 2 words: Fu*king Huge!

After lunch we took the light rail to Dallas. Actually that is not completely correct. We took the Dallas light rail to Downtown Salt Lake City. Get this, in order to put extra trains on the tracks for the Olympics, Texas lent a bunch of their trains to Utah. I wonder what the texan commuters are doing to get to work.... Speaking of loans, we also took some SanFrancisco and Orange County California busses today as well. It is neat how the entire country seems to be lending a hand to help make this event a success.... Anyway, that was a tangent that I should probably just have deleted......

In any event, the highlight of the evening was the Opening Ceremonies. We arrived at the stadium at 4pm and then sat around in the cold and waited for the festivities to begin, but the time went by rather quickly. If you were watching the ceremonies, I was the one in the white poncho. (if you weren't watching - everyone had on white ponchos....) The event was awesome. It was really touching when they brought out the World trade Center flag and the entire stadium was silent; you could have heard a pin drop. I really had a great time being a part of an event of such magnitude and worldwide signifigance.

I have been up for 18 hours and the caffine is wearing off so this is where I say c'ya later..... Let the games begin!

February 8, 2002

Peter 12:45 AM

Utah - Day 4. Today we woke up to a different world. Apparently the Olympics have arrived. We needed special security credentials just to walk down the hallway in our condo. After we checked out of the condo we did some shopping and we checked out some Olympic Sponsor booths. We even checked out some time sharing opportunities at the resort. (No, I did not buy one....) Then we left Park City and headed to Salt Lake City. There we witnessed the Olympic Tourch relay. We were so close, l I think I could have blown the torch out had I tried.We also met up with Linda's Brother and his family who are also out here for the games.

This entire area is gearing up for the Olympics big time. But they don't appear to be too organized. Even after the major infrastructure upgrades that this area has undergone, they still anticipate major delays getting to the venues. As a matter of fact, tomorrow we have tickets to a ski jumping qualification event that starts at 9am and we have been told that we should be on the road no later than 5am to get to the venue in time. Mind you the venue is only 40 miles away. So with that in mind, I will cut this short. The Red Bulls are on ice and its time for bed. Finally, be sure to keep your eyes peeled during the opening ceremonies, just in case we get on TV......

February 6, 2002

Peter 10:41 PM

Utah - Day 3. Last night we went out to Park City. The entire city is gearing up for the thousands of people that they are expecting for the Olympics. Its like the calm before the storm.Its pretty exciting. We had a good time drinking at a local pub, even though the liquor laws here are totally screwy. Naturally we slept in a bit today, but eventually we hit the slopes. I spent most of the day tearing up mogul runs with Kris. I really believe that I have improved my riding 100% this week. I have been going faster and riding more challanging terrain without any problems. At the end of the day we took a couple runs through the terrain park. I actually got in a few jumps with some serious air time; and this was not just my perception, I was told from a bystander that I had like 3 feet of air.

The resort is gearing up for the Olympics and today they went into overdrive as the entire NBC crew moved in. Tom Brokaw did his newscast from our resort and the Today show is being filmed here throughout the Olympics. We may get up early tomorrow (5:00am our time) to try to be on the show. Tune it in.. As a matter of fact, 10 mins ago I ran into Al Roker, the NBC weatherman, in the lobby.

Tomorrow we will move from Park City to Salt Lake City. We are all psyched about the games, especially the opening ceremonies - which they are predicting snow for. In any case, time to grab dinner.

Lastly, I must apologize as apparently I lied in my previous post. As Dickens has pointed out, snowbaoarding actually dates back to 1929 so I suppose it did exist when I was 2. But then again, modern snowboarding only goes back 25 years, so my statement should be changed to, "....modern snowboarding didn't exist then..." In any case, if you want to know more about the history of snowboarding, check out this site -> http://www.sbhistory.de

February 5, 2002

Peter 9:19 PM

Utah - Day 2. Well actually it is day 3 as we arrived on Sunday; but nothing special happened on Sunday so we ignore it. Anyways, today I brought the digital camera on the slopes and took lots of pictures, but I can't upload them through the internet connection I am using, so you will have to wait for me to return before you can see them...

Anyways, we had another great day on the slopes today. Its amazing how comfortable the weather is even though it was only 30 degrees outside. We even took a dip in the outdoor heated pool after our day on the slopes.

During lunch we met a woman and her son. The cool thing about this is that the kid was a snowboarder and that he was not even 2 years old yet!!! I took a picture of him, he was so cute. I wonder how good I would be today had I started snowboarding at 2 years old. Granted snowboarding didn't exist then but I can wonder can't I. At this rate, this kid should be a pro in no time. Perhaps even an olympic medalist for the 2018 winter games.

Kris and I spend most of the day riding through the powder and the glades. It was awesome. Kris even went head over heels over a tree. At the end of the day we took a couple of runs through the terrain park and hit a number of jumps. I was considering riding the rainbow rail, but the guy in front of me fell and it looked bad, so I lost my nerve. Probably for the best as we don't need another casulty. And in case you are wondering, Brian is fine. He cought a flight home this morning so he can rest comfortably in his own bed.

Thats it for now. Linda is cooking dinner and it is just about ready.

February 4, 2002

Peter 11:05 PM

Greetings from Utah. I am here with Linda, Kris, Brian and Steve and yes I am a nerd and I brought my laptop along. In any event, today we hit the slopes and it was awesome. This is my 1st time ever snowboarding out west and the stories are all true. The snow is perfect, the weather is perfect and the crowds are non-existant. We are staying at the Canyons in Park City and this resort is like no other I have ever seen. This entire community revolves around the ski resorts. There is even a ski lift in the center of town leading up to the mountain. This is also an exciting time to be here as the entire community is gearing up for the Olympics later this week. We even ran into the team from Hungary in the airport.

Today we tore up the groomed runs and got our asses kicked on the back-country ones, but it was all worth it. Except of course for the Steve / Brian collision.... On one of the last runs of the day Steve decided to go