Ray's Blog

Smoke & Elevator Mirrors

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:40:00 -0500

Some background: My parents both used to smoke a few packs a day (before anyone knew the stuff was bad for you). About the time my brother was conceived (~39 years go), info was coming out about how it was bad for you and both my mom and dad quit smoking, cold turkey. Since then, they haven’t gone back and have a completely clean bill of health - that is important to remember for later in the story. This experience was fortified when my grandfather died of cancer from smoking when I was 3 years old. So, they have a sincere disdain for the tobacco leaf.

My parents returned from a trip to Texas where they were working on a project with our company. They stayed in an “extended stay” type of suite and every morning, they would take an elevator to go to the gym. And every morning the elevator smelled like cigarette smoke. After a past of smoking, they can’t stand this smell - especially right before a work out!

One morning, the elevator opened and there he was. The smoker. A small man, skinny, with a gray beard and mustache and an old floppy brown hat. In a gruff voice said, “I know I’m not really supposed to be doing this in here…” My parents didn’t want to join him and before the doors began to close, my dad said in a friendly but stern voice, “Oh no, you go right ahead. I already have lung cancer.”

The guy stared at my dad in a weird awe, eyes wide open as the doors of the elevator came together leaving him inside to wonder as he bathed in his own smoke.

After the doors closed, my mom turned to my dad & said, “Where in the world did that come from?” My dad just laughed and said that he had no idea. They decided to take the stairs.

I can’t imagine the thoughts that swam through that guys head.

Countdowns & Counting

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:51:00 -0500

There are several countdowns I’ve been keeping my eye on. So, here is a quick update in “countdown” form:

25 days: 1st Razorback Game of the season!! (Woo Pig Sooie!)
30 days: Larry’s El Dorado Opens (give or take a week)
51 days: Archery Season (deer season!)
81 days: 1st p90x is complete (this hurts)
91 days: Our baby is due!
91 days: Opening day of Modern Gun (deer season) — Oh no! I’ve double booked!! hm…
106 days: Thanksgiving
136 days: Christmas
143 days: The New Year! 2011

Time is flying! My days are full of project tasks and attempting to complete what I can so I get to bed by 2 or 3 am. For a short time, until the restaurant is up and running, I will be burning the midnight oil… I guess I’ll be ready to stay up late when our little one gets here in 91 days!

Exciting times!

WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 01:04:49 -0500

The next place I want to go on this blue/green marble is probably Italy. You can’t go wrong with great pizza and great wine.

New blog is up: PizzaFoodie

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:57:56 -0500

Hey everyone. Given our new business venture, I’ve got a new blog up that I will be camping on and going BIG! www.PizzaFoodie.com.

There isn’t much there yet, but subscribe and check back. We are about to blow it up!

Paul D. Ryan: A GOP Road Map for America's Future - WSJ.com

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:25:43 -0500

Paul D. Ryan: A GOP Road Map for America's Future - WSJ.com:

Are you open minded enough to read and consider this?

Great points and some great ideas!

The New $100 Bill. Pretty cool. Looks a little like a Euro, but...

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:11:50 -0500

The New $100 Bill.

Pretty cool. Looks a little like a Euro, but it is ok. I’m sure it cost us several billion to produce. I’m also wondering why Banks wont be destroying the old bills. From what I understand, they will remain in circulation, which means the value of the dollar will continue to decrease as we print more money.

Our Baby at 10 weeks, 1 day and 3.24 cm! Please keep our...

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 09:25:43 -0500

Our Baby at 10 weeks, 1 day and 3.24 cm!

Please keep our little one in your prayers! Katie and I knew about a month ago, but we didn’t want to say anything until we had a chance to visit the doctor. We had a wonderful first visit with our doctor yesterday. We like her a lot. We even had a chance to see the baby MOVE! We could see it’s little hands wiggling! This is our first one. We are very excited and a little nervous too!

We also finished moving to Three Creeks this week. There are still a few boxes sitting around, but we are settling. We don’t have cell phone service in Three Creeks, so if you need to get in touch with us, call the land line or send us an email. I’ve updated my contact info on facebook.

Thanks for all your prayers for our little one & for Katie!

Quick Update

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:47:00 -0500

Another busy month has FLOWN by. I’m sorry that I haven’t posted anything lately. We are starting a restaurant in South Arkansas so time is scarce and I really can’t say much until all the papers are signed anyway. In short, Katie has retired from teaching and joined me in a family venture to start an investment group and a few small businesses.

We will be moving in April to Three Creeks, AR (where my family is from). We are VERY excited to be joining that community and living in the country! Sooie & Scout can’t wait! We will be staying at my parents place until we build - which we hope will happen sooner rather than later.

As the business develops, I will post details, updates, and will let you know how you can stay up to date on each company. This blog will continue to be for my personal use (which will naturally overlap some). In the future, this blog will probably become more “business focused” because my focus will be almost solely on business. I might try to build a quick website and have a few themed tabs: business | outdoors | politics | technology | sports. I think that would pretty much cover everything I blog about.

After we are up and running, I also want to be able to post helpful hints for others on how we started a business & a restaurant with little tidbits about what we learned in the process.

Online Journal
Many of you followed my search for an online journal that I could write, keep private info, take notes, tag, share some notes with others, & be able to use my phone or any computer to do it! I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for but I came VERY close: Google Notebook. It will allow me to do almost everything I wanted except GeoTag & Map - to be able to look at Google Earth/Maps and see a dot for each “note” or notes in a particular location. If I click on that note, it shows me what I wrote and exactly where I was - data can be grabbed from the iphone or a user can input a location somehow.

Another problem: when you edit a post, it updates the “edited time/date stamp” but does not keep a “created” time/date stamp. In other words, if you realize that on 3/1/2010, you forgot to “tag” a post with “Restaurant” so you can easily find it later and you add it, then it replaces the date with the date you added the tag, comment, or edit. I fix this by writing the date on the top line before anything else.

If they fix those two things, I will use it forever.

Thanks for checking in. I’ll post more after lease agreements and franchise agreements are all signed.

The second must watch MOVIE!

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:40:07 -0600

The second must watch MOVIE!

A must watch MOVIE!

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:31:00 -0600

A must watch MOVIE!

Today is the big day! Super Bowl XLIV! For those of you who...

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:26:34 -0600

Today is the big day! Super Bowl XLIV! For those of you who have been following my NFL picks, I have a record of 5 for 6 (darn you Farve & Romo!!) in the playoffs. But there hasn’t been a pick yet that has been THIS tough. Here are a few of the tangibles and intangibles that will make the difference.

Manning. One of the all time greatest quarterbacks in the league. Not because of his throwing skills, but because of his ability to read the defense and call plays on the line that lead his team to victory.
Injury. The Colts defense are in a tough spot with the loss of Freeny. They are really going to have to step up their game because if they give Drew Brees 4 seconds in the pocket, the Saints will win.
Brees. One of the most under recognized quarter backs in the league. This guy is as accurate as they get! I think HE is the best QB in this game.
Experience. The Colts have been here before. The big game hype maybe already over for them, but this is the Saints 1st time in the Super Bowl. They are like kids in a candy store! Eyes wide open.
Heart. The edge here has to go to the Saints. These guys have played with tremendous heart all year and this game could boil down to the team that wants it the most and I think the Saints want this win more than the Colts.

I know there are more, like Reggie Bush - if he has a break out game, then it could be over early for the Colts because a two pronged attack (air and ground) would be too much for them or anyone else! And the Saints defense - if they don’t play their absolute best game, Saints’ fans will be wishing that the half time whistle was the end of the fourth quarter because Manning will throw all over them.

However, all of those factors seem to cancel each other out. So my NFL Super Bowl XLIV pick is based on the video posted above from Sports Science. Drew Brees is the most accurate quarterback in the league. His ability to complete passes that no one else can will carry them to victory. If the pressure of the “big game” gets to him, the saints don’t have any hope. A balanced attack will be important, but even with a “super bowl” defense from the Colts, Brees can pass around, over, and through them. So, I pick the New Orleans Saints to win XLIV!

Who do you think is going to win Super Bowl XLIV?

“Let It Be Me” on the album “Gossip in the...

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:19:00 -0600

“Let It Be Me” on the album “Gossip in the Grain” by Ray LaMontagne

I love this song. I just found out about this guy yesterday. Chilled out sounds from another time from a modern day folk singer. He has some great music!

Not only that, he has a great beard! Enjoy it.

As an affiliate of itunes & amazon, author has permission to post song for purchase.

Photos & Video: Katie and I enjoying the winter weather with...

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:15:00 -0600

Photos & Video: Katie and I enjoying the winter weather with the pups!

Some Favorite Photos:

Click Here to see more of our Winter 2010 photos!

iPad: not inventing a new category... resurrecting an old one!!

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:06:00 -0600

Have we all forgotton? I DID! … I remember a time when my electronic planner was not connected to a cellular network. I remember a time when I had to carry only the data I needed, but I could use this bulky piece of equipment (with a touch screen) for taking notes, managing contacts, calculating, and running a few basic programs. What was it? It was a personal digital assistant! A PDA!

Palm, after being sold to the U.S. Robotics Corp in 1995 began manufacturing the Palm Pilot PDAs in 1996. I had one! Love it! Took it everywhere and wore it out!

So, the iPad is just a fancy new Palm Pilot? Not exactly…

Before Palm was sold to US Robotics, they produced the “Tandy Zoomer” in 1993! I didn’t own one of these myself (I was 9 years old) but it was one of the first to use the Graffiti handwriting recognition software and a touch small touch screen computing device.

But wait, there’s more! The Zoomer wasn’t the first PDA… It was (:::drum roll:::) APPLE!

The Apple Newton, developed in 1988 and released February of 1989, ran on the “Newton OS” which allowed users to take notes, view calendars, draw, calculate, store contacts, and it even recognized your handwriting! It also connected back to your apple computer to “sync”. They even had an entire line of Apple Newton PDAs called “MessagePad” (pictured)!

I am amazed that I didn’t figure this out sooner. Apple claims to be creating a new category, but they really aren’t. They are resurrecting an old category that they created 22 years ago!

In a mad dash to make everything more portable, mobile, and connected, Palm Pilots became much smaller, sleeker, and then connected to the cellular network! Then cell phones merged with “PDAs” and became smart phones! Instead of carrying around two devices, you only had to carry one. But you lost something, functionality! So, you only had to carry around

your phone (and you have everything on it), but most people still write or take notes in a journal or day planner and then try to enter all that data into their computer (that syncs with their PDA/Cellphone) later. This is a HUGE pet peeve and ANTI-time management! I hate writing things down twice! It waste so much time! Now, I enter anything once (on my computer, phone, or pda) and everything will sync together like magic!

Apple is seizing this opportunity and relaunching a forgotten category of device! The iPad is the new “MessagePad”! They could have called it the “iPDA” or “iNewton” (and if they start that now, I want royalties: 3%).

Video & Review of the Apple iPad It’s amazing!...

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:01:00 -0600

Video & Review of the Apple iPad

It’s amazing! Yesterday, instead of the State of the Union campaign speech, Katie and I decided to watch the Steve Jobs’s Keynote Address. We had heard that Apple would be releasing their “Tablet” computer and we were excited to see their developments. We are both iPhone users. Our emails, calendars, contacts, etc are synced with our google gmail accounts. I use my iphone for almost everything except for heavy web surfing and extended research projects. It is a great for quick and easy tasks. But, for any project that would take longer than a few minutes, I wind up using my desktop computer.

I have been in the market for a laptop computer. Something that I can use on the run. Something fast and light but capable of taking on a few larger tasks every now and then. Enter, the iPad.

What it DOES do:

Surfing the Web ANYWHERE (Wifi+3G): Wow! With a 10 inch touch screen, you can hold the internet in the palm of your hand! This is powerful and brings life to websites! Now, any website can have an closer relationship with the user. This well revolutionize how websites are designed!

Checking, Responding, & Composing Email: So you are in a coffee shop and you receive an important email that you need to respond to. Instead of a little iPhone keyboard or blackberry keyboard, you flip the iPad sideways and have access to a nearly full size keyboard! Work from anywhere! You can compose longs emails or just a short word or two. This will be one of the most often used features of the device for me.

Calendar Management: Katie and I use the calendar functions on our iphone in sync with our google accounts. When I change a meeting time or date on my phone, it also changes on her phone so we are always on the same page. The calendar application on the iPad is 100 X’s better than the iphone! The app is about the size of a bound calendar/journal & the look and feel is excellent and intuitive!

Contact Management:The contact management is Ok. They are sorted well and easily found. However, there seem to be a few holes with this that I will cover later.

Navigating with Maps: While I didn’t hear the mention of a GPS, the calendar app is beautiful! View the streets from overhead, satellite, hybrid, & now google’s street view!

Taking Notes: The notepad app better be good (because the entire devise emulates a “notepad”) and it looks really nice! It looks very similar to the iPhone “notes” application that I rarely use. I would use it more if I could type faster, create list that I can checkmark, etc. I’m excited to see how this app will work.

Enjoying Photos: The iPhoto app is beautiful! Awesome effects, easily organized, slideshows on a whelm, it’s awesome.

Enjoying Videos & Movies: This is in two parts. Part 1: personal and business videos shared with friends, family, and clients. This will be VERY useful! Part 2: iTunes movies, purchased and rented. Katie and I would watch one of these on a plane or on the road or maybe even in bed. We don’t always need a 42 inch screen and surround sound. The IPS tech they use on the screen allows the screen to be viewed well from any angle and the LED back lighting gives the vibrant color and detail.

Enjoying Music & Audio Books: Again, with the iPod app, you can play audio books, music, speeches while you work, just like your iPhone or iPod.

Enjoying eBooks! (iBooks): I am REALLY excited about this. I enjoy reading, but I hate lugging around a ton of books! I am usually reading a couple of nonfiction business books, a Christian theology or inspiration book, a fiction book or two and I don’t want to carry those around everywhere I go! I hope that this app will have highlighting tools and the ability to insert and save notes on a text. I would also like the ability to convert other ebooks that I have already purchased to the ibook format!

Third Party Applications: Lastly, just like the iPhone & iPod touch, anyone can create an application to use on the iPad. This is a huge reason that the iPhone has had so much success. If you have a need, want, interest, or hobby, there is an app for that!

What it DOES NOT do?

There are a few things that this “Tablet” computer is missing that would make it PERFECT.

Flash Enabled Browsing: Lets go apple! Pick up the slack here! The safari web browser for iPhone has the same problem and on the keynote example, I noticed that the iPad is in the same boat! You HAVE to get a flash enabled version for these two devices… Better idea, GOOGLE, create your chrome browser for iphone & iPad!! (Here is a really good article from fortune mag that discussing this topic: http://bit.ly/9wsmi6)

GPS: Where is the GPS connection? I may have missed it, but I didn’t see any GPS listed. This would be incredibly useful for navigation and integrating various features into the maps application & other iPad applications!

Edge: In Arkansas, 3G is available in major cities, but if you travel outside of the major cities, you have to rely on the “edge” network from AT&T for data connection over the network. I don’t think this will be an option for the iPad, so if you are outside of major areas, you will have to memorize and note the Wifi hot spots!

Microsoft Office Suite: Lets be practical, the business applications for the iPad could be INCREDIBLE, but there needs to be a microsoft office suite created for this device! I know they have “iWork” but the compatibility with other people & programs in your company will be limited! I hope microsoft will seize the opportunity and create a quality Microsoft Office for iPad! You wouldn’t need to be composing extensive reports or presentations (xls, doc, ppt), but minor edits of them & viewing them would be the primary functions of the Office for iPad.

More Storage: The largest iPad will only hold 64 gigabytes of data. This is “ok”, but I’m surprised that it isn’t at least in the hundreds. Maybe they are saving some for the iPad 2.0. Another point that they are attempting to convey is that this is not a laptop and is not a substitute for a desktop computer. Apple wants to push you into the new age of storing your data and information on a “cloud” and accessing that cloud through an internet connection. This is fast, light, and streamlined, but I don’t think that the general public is there.yet. I want to be, but I don’t trust 2 things: 1, that I will have access all the time & 2, that the cloud is fool proof and safe.

Quality Contact Management Software: This maybe more of a general criticism of contact management software from apple and google, but they need to take a note from professional companies like ACT! and develop their contact management system. For instance, when I change a contact that Katie and I are sharing, I want it to change for Katie too. I would like to add multiple notes and activities in the history. When I make a call, I would like it noted and attached to the contact’s record. Same thing for email. It isn’t a difficult feature to add, but one that would be HUGELY helpful! This would have great business a personal applications!

& Lastly: A Good Name: So, iPad has some bad connotations that Apple will have to overcome. There are already claims of other people saying they own the rights to this horrible name. That happened with the iPhone too. I wonder why they didn’t call it a MacTablet or iTablet or iNotepad. iPad just sounds bad. But, it isn’t a huge worry to me nor will it be to most Apple fans.

Thanks for reading my review! I might think of a few other things I would like to see added, but in general, I think the iPad is a great “go between” from a high powered desktop computer and a very mobile iPhone. I think it is what the laptop computer should have always been! I’m excited to see more innovations in the future!

So, what do you think about this thing?

VIDEO: The Nexus One This is the first REAL competition that the...

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:13:07 -0600

VIDEO: The Nexus One

This is the first REAL competition that the Apple’s iPhone has had and I’m excited about it! Ironically, the competition comes form someone who has been a friend in the tech industry. The goal of Google has always been to “Kill Microsoft” but now, it looks like they are taking aim at Apple! Maybe this is a way to eek out Microsoft from the cellular telephone market for good. With the Apple Iphone or Google Nexus, who would buy a phone with Windows on it? YUK!

The PROS: Added competition leads to more innovation. The Iphone hasn’t made may strides since the 2nd generation 3G model. This will be great for consumers. Another PRO: all of the “google apps” will be easier to use than ever! I’m looking forward to seamless integration with contacts, docs, gmail, calendar, picasa, earth, and MORE! I’m tired of having to go through back doors & settings to make the google apps easier to use on my iPhone! I envision a way to enter my google username & password and all my google apps are set up!

The CONS: A huge reason that iPhone is as popular as it is: 3rd party applications. Google will have a tough time overcoming the volume of applications that are already out there for iPhone users. They would do well to set up an easy conversion program for current 3rd party developers to help convert their iphone apps to google apps. Another CON: the service provider: TMobile. Who uses TMobile? If you want the unlocked version, it is $600! That is STEEP. When Google goes AT&T, we will consider the switch from my iPhone. It isn’t worth it to have a “similar phone” but pay $600! Plus, the first generation of any phone is always the one that they work out all the kinks. By the time Nexus One Point Two is out, we will look at as a serious possibility for business and personal use.

google.com/phone

Are you going to buy a Nexus One?

VIDEO: They are about to raise the debt ceiling!! Currently, we...

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:17:00 -0600

VIDEO: They are about to raise the debt ceiling!!

Currently, we owe: 12,245,872,000,000

Figures on government spending and debt (last six digits are eliminated). The
government's fiscal year runs Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
Total public debt subject to limit Jan. 22		12,245,872
Statutory debt limit					12,394,000
Total public debt outstanding Jan. 22			12,302,465
Operating balance Jan. 22				   142,454
Interest fiscal year 2009				   383,365
Interest fiscal year 2008				   451,154
Deficit fiscal year 2009				 1,417,121
Deficit fiscal year 2008				   454,798
Receipts fiscal year 2009				 2,104,613
Receipts fiscal year 2008				 2,523,642
Outlays fiscal year 2009				 3,521,734
Outlays fiscal year 2008				 2,978,440
Gold assets in September				    11,041

Source: AP & FoxBusiness

NFL Playoffs: Championship Picks

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:46:00 -0600

Ok, I’ve waited all week. I don’t want to pick. The truth is, I have NO IDEA who will win these games today!

Colts vs Jets: Ok, an objective opinion would say that the Colts will pass all over the Jets, but the Jets are having an incredible year & they don’t have to play THAT much better to pull out a win here! Painter isn’t starting for the Colts, so that is a blow (LOL), but the Jets might be all over these guys. What would I LIKE to see? I’d love to see a big upset and the Jets going to the super bowl! That would be an amazing game to watch! Manning is a great guy and probably one of the greatest QB’s of all time, but there are 10 other guys that have to play just as good! HEART could play a major factor in this game!

Saints vs Vikings: The Vikings/Cowboys game last week was the only one I missed - and I missed that one badly. The Saints are going to have to be amazing today on both sides of the ball to pull out a win. They are already great on offense, but the offensive line is going to have a tough game. The defensive line of the Viking shut down Romo & the Cowboys, but Romo is not Brees. He makes passes that no other quarterback in the league can and the match ups in the secondary will be hard for the Vikings to overcome. I’d LIKE to see the Saints win. I like Brees and I think they have a good team. If the Viking defensive front plays like they did against the Cowboys, they could win it, but it will be tough. I just don’t believe they can do it two weeks in a row. I’m going to pick the Saints, but it is a soft pick. Farve might just have one of those “Bret Farve” games where he does no wrong, the ball bounces their way, & then a miracle toss down field for the win. Who knows??

So, my “heart” picks: Jets vs Saints in the Super Bowl.

My “head” picks: Colts vs ?Saints? in the Super Bowl.

VIDEO: Penn Jillette, a famous comedian, magician, &...

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:24:00 -0600

VIDEO: Penn Jillette, a famous comedian, magician, & performer who is also an atheist shares his thoughts on an encounter with someone sharing their faith with him.

See more candid “Penn Says” videos at Crackle
PS: There maybe some harsh language in some of them.

Jon Stewart Calls Out Keith Olberman… You know it’s...

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:46:00 -0600

Jon Stewart Calls Out Keith Olberman…

You know it’s bad when even Jon Stewart thinks Olberman went too far.