SunFyre...words from a seated position

Mortgage Company Pre-Foreclosure Suicide

2008-07-23T23:56:00.004-05:00

The New York Times reported that a woman committed suicide after sending a note to her mortgage company by fax. She was about to be foreclosed upon.

A Massachusetts woman fatally shot herself soon after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying that by the time they foreclosed on her house that day, she would be dead. The police said the woman, Carlene Balderrama, shot herself Tuesday [July 22,2008], after faxing the letter at 2:30 p.m. The mortgage company called the police, who found Ms. Balderrama’s body at 3:30 p.m.

The auction was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and interested buyers arrived at the property in Taunton, about 35 miles south Boston, while Ms. Balderrama’s body was still inside, said Chief Raymond O’Berg of the Taunton Police Department. Neighbors said Ms. Balderrama, 53, her husband and her son had lived in the house for about four years.

I have a family member who lost his home recently to foreclosure. I'm not blaming his mortgage company exclusively, however the reality is that they extended his family credit well beyond their ability to pay. They mortgaged 107% of their house to cover closing costs. Their mortgage was at 10.5% interest because they had spotty credit. Furthermore, their payments were based on declared income, not tax records.

You see, he worked in the manufactured housing industry and had been averaging 55 hours per week as a foreman. His 15 hours of overtime at double pay meant he often grossed more than 160% of his regular salary. Even though this trend had only occurred for few months, the mortgage company was eager to overlook the downturn in building that was already on the horizon.

They told him he could afford much more house than he expected, and his real estate agent, armed with a pre-qualification letter, showed him every house she could find at the maximum end of his price range. With high interest, his monthly mortgage was $50 more per month than mine, even though our property taxes were triple his, and our home price was $75,000 more.

When his employer cut him back to regular full time when the housing slump began, he couldn't make ends meet, not even close. His mortgage payment was now 65% of his gross pay, and 80% of his take home. Even another job would not have made up the difference because he was relatively highly paid. He would have had to work an additional 50 hours weekly at a $10/hour factory job if he could have gotten one.

He is partially to blame, no doubt. He made some bad decisions. He felt the windfall during the booming housing market would last forever, and that was completely unrealistic.

However, mortgage companies and real estate agents also made a windfall in the booming housing market and they should have known it wouldn't last. In fact, they did know it wouldn't last, and that's why they were trying to squeeze every nickel out of people before the bubble burst.

What they did to my family member, and millions of other Americans, probably wasn't illegal, but certainly wasn't ethical. And now, our federal government is bailing people out. Most of the money, however is being used to bail out poorly managed companies, not poorly managed households.

His home was sold at sheriff sale for $.55 on the dollar. He's in the process of filing for bankruptcy and divorce. Financial matters stress your budget and your marriage.

The sad thing is, how close he had been to the American dream. At 30 years old he'd been working for a decade. He is a hard worker, and with the exception of a broken leg several years ago, had never missed a day of work in his life. He'd been promoted several times because of his exceptional work ethic and dedication. If this is a man who deserved better advice for his family.

Had the real estate agent sold him a house within his budget, he would still be living there, and likely still married. The mortgage company would still be making a profit. The tax collector would have been able to contribute funds to the school budget. He would it still had 60% of his income to spend in the local economy.

As a nation, we exuberantly bought and built houses. Financial services companies lent us more money than we had, or could expect to have in the near future. Real estate agents convinced us that "flipping" was a good idea, while while travel agent suggested we "cash out our equity" for our next vacation. And investment brokers built mutual funds out of real estate, so we could invest without actually owning any of the land, and move our money out when the market got bad regardless of who was living or working on that land.

I hope that Senators McCain and Obama work together to start holding corporate America to the standards that we hope to instill in the American people, regardless of which one of them becomes president. We have too much at stake to allow corporations with questionable ethics to damage the livelihoods of individuals, and the economy as a whole.

I'm paying my mortgage, every month. I'm paying my credit card bills. We just finished paying off our college loans. I pay my taxes on both property and income. I'm a good American and I've made very good financial decisions. Unfortunately, not only am I living the American dream, but I'm financing the American nightmare.

How to Run a Highly Efficient and Effective Meeting

2008-07-23T10:01:00.001-05:00

Business leaders today are "meeting-ed" to death. Meetings are essential, but they hamper productivity. Finding the balance between group participation and high productivity will help you create a high-performance team. Twelve tips for faster and more productive meetings.

read more | digg story

Dead Hermit Crab

2008-07-21T08:05:00.001-05:00

The Eulogy: You were a good hermit crab. I knew you for a week, but wish I had known you longer. I kind of wish I would've given you a name other than "the one in the purple shell".

Flush.

Believe it or not, I stayed up late last night writing. I posted a little blog entry about how to care for your hermit crab and decided to go to bed. I checked on the crabs before bed, and one of them was dead.

I was excited when I read the article because I realized I had been doing almost everything right. I kept them in an aquarium with the right kind of sand. I was very proud of my accomplishment, then... dead.

It is appropriate to flush a crab. With fish it's kind of obvious, but I'm unsure about crabs that live on land. (No, I didn't flush the shell. I'm not a complete idiot.)

I'm down to one crab. I think I'm going to get more, but I'll probably have to order them online because they can't afford another trip to Atlantic City for a four dollar crab.

Caring for Hermit Crabs

2008-07-21T01:51:00.003-05:00

Last summer we got a couple of hermit crabs. They didn't live long. This summer, Ainsley wanted to get some more of them. We got two in Atlantic City last weekend, and I'm determined to take better care of them.

Here's an article about caring for hermit crabs I found and I figured I'd pass it on to you.

Hermit Crab Care -- 8 Tips on Keeping Healthy and Happy Hermit Crabs
By Jennifer Manning

Are you thinking of buying one or a few hermit crabs? Hermit crab care seems so simple. Just put them in a little plastic critter carrier with a cap of food and a sponge of water and they'll be fine and dandy.

Unfortunately, it's not as simple as that. This setup is far from the ideal conditions required by the land hermit crabs available in the majority of pet shops. Here are some essential tips on how to keep your hermit crabs happy and healthy.

Provide a glass aquarium for your hermit crabs -- at least a 5 gallon for one crab and 10 gallons or more for multiple crabs. Get a lid for the top and try to keep a minimum humidity of 70% and a minimum temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
Apply an under tank heater to your hermit crab's aquarium and invest in a thermometer and humidity gauge to monitor the environment and make changes as needed.
Place 1 to 2 inches of calci--sand or play sand in your hermit crab's home (Crabitat). Keep the sand slightly moistened at all times.
Providing a fresh bowl of non--chlorinated water daily is vital in proper hermit crab care. You can purchase dechlorination drops at your local pet store.
You should buy a wide variety of shapes and sizes of shells for your crab to change into as desired. Hermit crabs molt and grow on a regular basis and need larger shells to accommodate them.
It's not a good idea to keep only one hermit crab -- get a few. Hermit crabs are social creatures and live in colonies of hundreds in the wild and do much better when they have the companionship of others.
In addition to a good staple hermit crab food (available in most pet stores), provide them with a variety of other foods. They also enjoy fresh apples, bananas, peanut butter and a variety of other foods. Variety is very important in hermit crab care. I also like to add a little aquarium sea salt to their food dish too. I usually put the fresh food in a separate dish and remove it the next day.
Hermit crabs love to climb and play, so provide a variety of toys such as driftwood, flower pots, shells and fish nets. Be creative and experiment. You never know what your hermit crabs will enjoy playing with. Thoroughly clean anything before adding it your Crabitat.

Get more important tips about Hermit Crab Care at http://www.petcarejournal.com - a website designed to provide you with pet care articles and resources to help you get the most out of your pet keeping experience, no matter what type of pet you own.

Welcome to the world, baby Lucas

2008-07-11T21:56:00.000-05:00

A little after 8 a.m. this morning my sister, Jennifer, gave birth to Lucas DeGennaro. Mom and baby are healthy and happy, and he tipped the scales at 8 lbs. 15 oz. He was about a week overdue, and since Jennifer struggled with inducement during her first pregnancy, they did a planned C-section. She's recovering much more quickly this time around.

Tomorrow morning we are hopping in the car and heading to Atlantic City. They live in Galloway, New Jersey just outside of Atlantic City.

This is the third baby born in our family in the past seven weeks. Late in May a member of my web team, (and my second cousin) gave birth to her first, a little girl named Natalie. In June, my wife's sister had her first, and we welcomed Lauren Rebecca. Now in July, Lucas joined us.

My wife and I started trying to get pregnant about eight years ago. Our twins turned six in May. Since we began working on our little project, there's been a baby boom among our closest friends and family. Check out this unbelievable list.

Jason, Ainsley -- our twins
Brianna, Kaitlyn -- to Kristen's brother, Jonathan
Lauren -- to my sister in law, Lori
Vincent, Lucas -- to my sister, Jennifer
Natalie -- to my cousin, and assistant, Kyley
Zander, Lexi -- to my personal care attendant, Heather
Abigail -- to my assistant, Michelle
Lucy -- to my personal care attendant, another Heather
Samuel, Gracie -- to my assistant, Jane
Isaiah, Nathan, Maya,Lara -- to my wife's best friend, Rachel
Sadie -- to her other best friend, Elizabeth
Rylee -- to our nanny, Nicole
Romelo,Victor -- to our nanny, Hollie
Madison -- to our nanny, Lisa

The total comes to 22 babies in eight years, including three sets of twins. This doesn't include about a dozen babies born to cousins and other extended family. All of these people were employees, closest friends and immediate family.

At first, I thought something was in our water. But partway through, we moved and now use bottled water. Additionally, three of the babies were adopted.

I have another theory. It's me! I've spent significant time with all of these people. Either, my incredible manliness drives women crazy and they run home and take out their passion on their husbands and boyfriends, or, perhaps (but I think unlikely) they are so thankful that their husbands are not like me that they give them good love. Either way, I get the credit or blame!

I'm thinking of making a T-shirt for myself that simply says "Fertility God". Let's hear what you think. Post your comments below.

Movie Review: Wanted

2008-06-29T01:05:00.003-05:00

It's been done a hundred times, give Angelina Jolie a tight outfit and some automatic weapons, and have her go blow some shit up.

While Wanted is definitely a formula movie, it's a formula that is still lots of fun. Angelina Jolie is still sexy in a very raw way, especially when she plays a bad ass.

Morgan Freeman stars as the mastermind of an assassins' crew who kill in the name of justice. Again, not exactly an unfamiliar role for him. But again, we like him.

The unlike the action hero however is James McAvoy. Kristie says "I love him", but frankly I had never heard of him. Recently he starred in two chick flicks, "Becoming Jane" about the early life of Jane Austen, and "Atonement", a period piece from World War II France. Surprised I never heard of him?! You shouldn't be. He did play the Faun in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. While more people saw him there, it still isn't a role that reeks of "Assassin".

If you like movies heavy on character and light on violence, I guess you should rent Becoming Jane.

If, however, you prefer gratuitous violence, excessive use of the F-word and a couple of sexy shots of Angelina Jolie and her tattoos, this movie is great fun. Generally speaking I am not into the last action hero genre, but this was a really enjoyable movie. The special effects were amazing. The action sequences were very original, albeit bordering on ridiculous.

If this wasn't an action movie, it would have been a great comedy. The action is so over the top, it's almost a parody of itself. James McAvoy's character is quick and funny, without being cliché. They didn't dump a bunch of one-liners on Angelina or Morgan, thank goodness.

This movie won't change your life, but if you don't mind the violence, it's a fun two hours. It's definitely worth seeing on the big screen because of the action sequences and special effects.

Spa Offers Bird Poop Facial

2008-06-10T10:05:00.004-05:00

Have you heard about the new treatment for dull skin? It is bird poop!

CNN is reporting that a New York City spa is offering bird poop facials, yes complete with video. Apparently the droppings of a Nightingale can be used to cleanse the skin. Japanese geishas and kabuki actors would use it to cleanse the face of heavy makeup. Today an Asian spa is using it as a skin treatment, and you can have it for only $200.

Don't take my word for it, watch the CNN video... Spa Offers Bird Poop Facial

Holy Crap

Package and Repackage Your Products and Services

2008-06-09T10:24:00.001-05:00

"When you're in the information business like I am, our inventory is limited to our knowledge. Knowledge, expertise and experience are the raw materials that make up our products and services."This blog entry shows how I made $151,000 with a four page PDF file.

read more | digg story

Molly the Disabled Pony from Hurricane Katrina

2008-05-29T08:58:00.003-05:00

Meet Molly. She's a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Katrina hit southern Louisiana , USA . She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help. But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes.

But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight, and didn't overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really! begins there.

'This was the right horse and the right owner,' Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one in a million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood (that) she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore , is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.

Molly's story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana . The little pony gained weight, her mane felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports. She asks for it! She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too.' Sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. 'It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a three-legged horse', she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now.

Kay, the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people. And she had a good time doing it.

'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life', Moore said, 'She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others.'
'She's not back to normal,' Barca concluded, 'but she's going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol for New Orleans itself.'

Recognizing Excellence in Our Children

2008-05-19T14:19:00.002-05:00

Getting Back to Work

2008-05-06T13:07:00.000-05:00

I was getting tired of the look of SunFyre. This template isn't much better, but at least it's fresh. I'm trying to get back in the mood for writing. Writing for me is usually a daily process, but I took over two weeks off. I was sick.

Things were just starting to go good for me, and I started to forget I am disabled. God needed to remind me, apparently. My kids had been coughing for two weeks, then they gave it to me.

Here's a long drawn out story.

Tuesday I ran a fever. Wednesday I felt like crap. Thursday morning I was on the road to recovery.

Then the power went out.

I thought it was typical stuff in my rural community. A car hits a telephone pole, and the power goes out for 45 minutes, then it returns. (Around here, they call electricity "power" or "lights". If you've lived here a long time, you say "The lights are auten.")

After 30 minutes, my battery backups from my computers start to fail. Around 40 minutes I am officially out of business until the "lights are back".

About 3 1/2 hours later I called the electric company to find out that it wasn't my entire neighborhood, it was just me. Apparently we were late with the electric bill, and the local electric company doesn't mess around in April. I paid the bill, $222.50, by telephone. They refused to reconnect the service for 24 hours. (By the way, during the winter my electric bill averages $600 per month.) Now I'm mad.

Partially, I am mad the electric company. Partially, I'm mad at my wife who decided in her infinite wisdom that she would only pay half the bill this month because we were expecting a large tax payment April 15.

Thursday afternoon I'm trying to get ahold of the Pennsylvania Utility Commission to file a complaint because the electric company didn't believe a shutoff notice on the premises, which is required by law.

That's when I noticed my cat was sick. Very sick.

She hides behind a little table in my office sometimes. There was a foul odor. Very foul.

I moved the little table and found my cat laying in her own urine and feces, laboring to breathe.

About that time my children arrived home, Jason with a temperature well over 100 and a cough that sounded like a coal miner who smokes too much.

Kristen came home and we rushed the cat to the vet, and my sister-in-law took Jason to the doctor.

Three hours later we are still sitting in the veterinarian's office, and I'm freezing. The air-conditioning was extremely low. My fever has returned and I'm sitting there shivering. I'm getting angry at the three fat women who worked in the vet's office. I'm sorry if it's rude to say that fat women require extra air-conditioning, but now I'm really angry, and they were really fat.

They ran about $500 worth of tests to find nothing wrong. Apparently, the cat had a fever too, and that's all they could identify. She was bad enough however that they wanted to hospitalize her. He gave her some antibiotics and I think the three fat ladies said a prayer. (Whatever they did, it worked and she's fine now.)

Now I'm sad, angry, freezing and sweating at the same time.

We picked up the kids. (They gave Jason an antibiotic and said some prayers. I'm not sure if the nurses were fat.) We took the kids home to our very dark and increasingly chilly house. I let the kids sleep in the living room because it was the only room that gets light from the street. Two 5-year-olds in zero night lights means a bedtime battle. I wasn't up for the fight, so we had a "campout". Ainsley was mad because we couldn't make s'mores. I was mad because all I had was warm tunafish. (My kids ate with their aunt.)

Friday morning we had to use a battery-powered alarm clock. I'm used to waking up with Drew's Crew on the radio. (He kind of sucks, but it's the only radio station for about 100 miles that isn't Country or Christian, or both.)

Instead, I wake up to something it sounds like a car alarm. It literally scares me so bad I inhale that disgusting phlegm that accumulates during the night in your mouth. It kind of tastes like my cat smelled yesterday.

Anyhow, that bacteria laden sputum shot directly into my left lung. I promptly coughed it out, the phlegm, not the lung. But apparently one sole bacterium decided to set up shop. Within a few hours, the electricity had returned, but I'm throwing globs of yellow gunk out with every third breath. By Saturday morning I'm on antibiotics and I'm beginning to smell.

A little history.

In 1977 I got pneumonia for the first time. Pneumonia can be life-threatening to people with my disability. I was seven years old, and my parents figured it had probably overstayed my welcome already. Originally, doctors only told my parents to expect four or five years.

In 1987, I got pneumonia for the second time. I was hospitalized, but had the will to survive. It wasn't the will placed in me by God, it was the desire to complete high school, (I graduated that year) go to college and get laid. The healing power of the vagina was drawing me ever closer.

In 1997, engaged to Kristen, I got pneumonia for the third time. I'm laying there in the hospital feeling half dead. Kristen starts to explain to me how she'd already got a fantastic dress, and I wasn't allowed to screw this up for her! Again, the healing power of the vagina. Or maybe, it was just nagging. I'm always amazed at how much we can accomplish simply by being nagged by our wives.

Now it's 2008. I started thinking that maybe this was my next bout of once-per-decade pneumonia. I'm already a year overdue. Now, unfortunately, my schedule is far too filled to arrange a funeral for myself. I can die now, I have a mortgage. Again a different kind of spiritual healing, this one driven by a mountain of debt on a guy who can't get life insurance because some doctor told my parents I should've been dead 35 years ago.

So I decided to get better. I took time off work. I coughed when I needed to cough. I drank lots of hot tea and apple juice. I took my medicine. And I slept about 16 hours a day. By the end of the week I was better and my wife was ready to kill me.

I'm back to work now, and writing more. Last night we paid our bills, and the first check I wrote... to the gas company... $1113.95. The second check was to the mortgage company... $1417.95. There is something sick about utilities that cost more than your home per month.

Well, I'm feeling better. Thanks for enduring my long story.

20 Answers You Never Want from Magic Eight Ball

2008-03-31T06:54:00.002-05:00

Magic Eight Ball was one of the most popular toys from the 80s. It's yes/no answers are known to be the only thing more accurate than the Ouija board.

If you need answers, you must trust Magic Eight Ball. Unfortunately, once in a while he gives you an answer that you definitely don't want.

Here's 20 answers you never want from Magic Eight Ball.

The million-dollar Facebook experiment: Day One

2008-03-20T14:37:00.001-05:00

The concept is simple really. We're starting a group where each member will help earn $1.00, and we will try to recruit one million people for the group. Group members don't have to pay anything. We will use affiliate programs and pay per click programs to earn the money.

read more | digg story

Earning money using photo sharing site, Linkinn

2008-03-19T01:01:00.001-05:00

A relatively new concept that has really taken off are websites that offer users some of their ad revenue for sharing videos and images. I'm just starting to check a few of these out and I will share my experiences with you as we go. The first site am going to be looking at is called Linkinn. Check out my early review, and post your strategies.

read more | digg story

14 tips for making money with your CafePress T-shirt shop

2008-03-16T21:39:00.001-05:00

Here's 14 tips for increasing your income from your CafePress shop. Some of them were kind of obvious, while others were pretty interesting. I'm going to try them all out. I realized I wasn't stupid, just kind of lazy.

read more | digg story

Four Steps to Sell Almost Anything Online

2008-03-14T22:49:00.001-05:00

I've been selling online for 11 years in a variety of venues including eBay, Amazon and about a dozen of my own websites. What I've discovered is that the exact same process can sell just about anything. I'm going to tell you my formula in four simple steps.

read more | digg story

10 Ways to Get New Content for Your Website

2008-03-11T21:33:00.001-05:00

One of the biggest frustrations I see with people who are interested in earning money using a blog is content creation. The most successful blogs are ones that focus on a niche. Unfortunately writing a minimum of 50 articles a year requires lots of content. I write about 400 articles per year. Here are 10 places I go to keep new content flowing.

read more | digg story

Earning $1 Million Online

2008-02-23T23:39:00.001-05:00

As you probably know, I've been blogging since 2001 here at SunFyre. SunFyre has always been my test blog. I enjoy writing, but they also use this blog to test out new marketing approaches. After seven years, I'm going for the big time.

I have created a new blog called Jason's Million.My theory is that I can earn $1 million online by giving away secrets of earning money online. Over the past 11 years I've generated over $2 million in sales online, most of that since 2001 when I started this blog.

Here's how you can help.

Visit the blog at www.JasonsMillion.com.
If you see an interesting ad, click on it.
Sign up for the newsletter.
If you have a website, link to the blog.
If you have friends, and we know that's a big if, ask them to visit the blog.
If you are on Facebook, MySpace, Digg, Technorati, Reddit, del.icio.us or any other social bookmarking or social networking site, post a link to the blog.
Post your comments on the blog.
Follow its instructions, and make $1 million of your own.

Snow Day Comics

2008-02-22T09:19:00.007-05:00

My kids have a snow day today. They have been fighting all day and driving me crazy,and it's only 10:20 a.m. Here are a few comics about snow. They aren't hysterical, but they may make you smile just enough to prevent you from beating your children. (I'll settle for little victories today.)

Rejected Valentine's Day Cards

2008-02-22T09:02:00.003-05:00

When you're trying to find that perfect card for that special someone, Valentine's Day is the perfect time to express your true feelings. Unfortunately, what if your true feelings aren't all that romantically inclined? Here are some Valentine's Day cards that didn't make the cut, but maybe we wish they would have.

SunFyre's Travel Guide to the Solar System

2008-02-06T23:58:00.000-05:00

Many of us have a wish list of places we'd like to visit. Maybe you want to see kangaroos in Australia, the Eiffel Tower, Easter Island or maybe you want to go to Warrensburg, New York, home of the world's largest garage sale.

However, if you're interested in longer distance travel, perhaps throughout the solar system, it's important to get the facts before you leave. You don't want to simply hop on a space shuttle and say "take me where you're going" because you may not like your destination.

Here's my list of where you should go in the solar system to get the most out of your travel dollar!

If you're morbidly obese try Mercury or Mars where your 300 pound butt cheeks will only weigh 124 pounds.

If you just want to get in your skinny jeans again visit Uranus where your 150 pound frame will be down to 129 pounds. (Please hold your jokes having to do with tight jeans on Uranus, that's so sixth grade.)

If you just want to impress the friends before your class reunion asked them to hold it on Saturn or Venus. If you weigh 120 pounds, you'll be down to your high school weight of 109.

Guys, are you a little on the skinny side? Your 160 pound weakling ass will look like a buff 176 on Neptune. Alien babes will swear you're working out.

Speaking of weakling asses, if you want to be buff rather than just appear buff, take a short trip to Earth's moon. Your 75 pound bench press now rings in at a cool 450.

Speaking of moons, if you're looking for a romantic place to enjoy the moonlight, try Jupiter, it's got 62 of them. Your girlfriend will be impressed, but I hope you like big beautiful women because on Jupiter your 95 pound girlfriend tops out well over 200.

Do you like warmer climates? Visit Mercury where, in the summer things heat up to a comfortable 801°F. Just don't make a mistake and visit in the winter when the temperature is -279°F. It's a little hard to figure out when summer starts in winter ends because their year is only 88 days long.

Have you ever wondered where global warming is going to end? Visit Venus for a first-hand case study. There the Venusians, not to be confused with Venetians, used up all their oxygen. Their atmosphere is similar to our if you replace all the oxygen with carbon dioxide. The thick clouds keep Venus a constant 864°F, but remember it's not the heat, it's the humidity.

Have you ever wished you had just a few minutes extra each day? Visit Mars. You'll get an extra 40 minutes each day. Are you a real workaholic? Try Mercury where each day lasts 59 Earth days. Just be careful because, as we've already mentioned their year is only 88 Earth days, so your wake-up mid spring, and won't be ready for a nap until late fall.

Does your girlfriend want to spend every day with you? Move to Neptune, days are only 16 hours long. Just make sure she doesn't want to spend a hundred years with you, because a year last 165 Earth years. Save your money for calendars, a Neptune page-a-day calendar would have slightly under 90,000 pages. At least your kids won't have to share birthdays... with anyone.

Do you like to walk? Visit Pluto. You can walk the entire planet in about the same amount of time as it would take you to walk across Alaska and back. Wear a coat however, because the temperature is a steady -385°F. Just in case you're wondering, that's about 40°K. At 0°K, all molecular motion stops. That's cold.

Maybe you're a storm chaser. If you think the tornadoes of Kansas are impressive, visit Jupiter. That big red spot is a giant storm three times wider than Earth. The storm has been around for hundreds of years. I wouldn't recommend chasing it either, because the air pressure is so strong it would crush your SUV like a Styrofoam cup.

Do you like to this ancient ruins? Try the asteroid belt, a collection of 90,000+ orbiting bodies. Some of them as wide as 600 miles, while others are less than a kilometer. Some people believe these fragments are ruins of ancient planet or moon's. Others believe that some of the moons of Mars are old asteroids that got trapped by Mars' orbit. What goes around, comes around.

Feel like getting away from it all, hop on a comet. While these interstellar tour buses are fascinating, a round-trip on Halley's comet takes 76 years... and this is considered a short period comet. Some comets don't revisit our solar system for as long as 30 million years. You'd better take a snack.

Last but not least, perhaps you're sick of our solar system altogether. You want to visit a neighboring star. Our closest buddy (and best friend, pun intended) is named Sirius, a.k.a. the Dog Star. It's a long trip, about a 17 year round-trip, if traveling at the speed of light. Unfortunately, until technology gives us a warp drive you have to rely on current technology. Voyager 2 can make the trip one way in about 300,000 years, but we haven't figured out how to bring it back yet, so plan on staying for a while.

And there you have it, SunFyre's Travel Guide to the Solar System. Please note that all verified facts were confirmed by NASA, and all verified lies were confirmed by SunFyre. Much of this article is somewhere in between.

Singing in My Sleep

2008-02-06T15:43:00.000-05:00

Ever since last Sunday I have had Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in my head. I've always liked Tom Petty, and really enjoyed his Super Bowl concert. I thought it was the best Super Bowl halftime show since Janet Jackson and her left breast appeared.

But now, Running down a Dream or one of the other songs has been cruising my brain for about three days.

This morning my wife asked me "When you turned over last night in bed, were you singing?"

"No."

"Actually, you were." She explained, "I just didn't know if you were aware of it."

Apparently about four o'clock this morning I rolled over and woke up Kristie in the process. As I was going back to sleep, she said I was mumbling and singing to myself. It was very quiet and she couldn't make out the song, but she said it was definitely singing. I talk in my sleep frequently, but this was a first.

I don't remember singing, or even dreaming, but I suspect Tom Petty was the culprit.

Groundhog Predicts The End of Global Warming

2008-02-02T11:35:00.000-05:00

It's official, there is six more weeks of winter to be had, according to the official groundhog of Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil. He came out of his house to see his shadow.

You can visit the official Groundhog Day website and read his full prediction.

"As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me. Six more weeks of winter it will be!"

Last year the groundhog predicted an early end to winter. Does that mean that we've returned to normalcy, therefore global warming is no longer an issue? Probably not.

Punxsutawney Pennsylvania is located near Pittsburgh in the southwest corner of Pennsylvania. Ironically, this is one of the areas that will be first affected by global warming. Generally Pennsylvania has mild winters with a handful of significant snows each year. Every two or three years we will have a blizzard where we receive in excess of a foot of snow.

The last time we received a significant snowfall was when my children were less than a year old. The Twins are five now. Even that snowfall was only about 10 inches, not officially a blizzard.

The groundhog gave us another year, but it's time that we do something. I challenge you to make a difference in your life between now and next Groundhog Day to reduce your carbon emissions. Perhaps we can actually generate another blizzard, and balance the world again.

Parenting Advice and Strategies

2008-01-27T09:57:00.000-05:00

Clearly, here is some extraordinary advice for new parents, complete with diagrams. I'd wish it had this were my twins were born. It probably would've changed a lot of my parenting strategies.

http://www.c00lstuff.com/1133/Do_s_and_don_ts_with_babies/

SOLAR ARK: World’s Most Stunning Solar Building

2008-01-25T08:34:00.001-05:00

Sanyo has built an ark for the solar century – an impressive 630 kW solar-collecting building that boasts over 5,000 solar panels and kicks off over 500,000 kWh of energy per year. Even more outstanding is the fact that most of the monocrystalline modules used on the Solar Ark were factory rejects headed to the scrap pile.

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