Thursday, April 30, 2009

Day 169 - Cooking

#24 - Learn 50 New Recipes: (8/50) now (11/50) - 22% Complete
Oreo Truffles
Buffalo Chicken and Cheese Dip
Cheesy Potato Casserole
Grilled Vegetables in Caramelized Italian Dressing
Cheeseburger Chowder
Eclair Cake
Minestrone Soup
New and Improved - Turbo Inside Out Burgers
... Italian Marinated Pork Chops with Perogies and Onions
... IceBox Cake
... Teriyaki Steak and Potato Croquettes

Friday, April 10, 2009

Day 149 - Birthday Surprise

#62 - Obtain: Apple Iphone - So I sent a text to Nance yesterday and told her that I was thinking about getting an iPhone. I really needed a new phone and have always wanted one. It is on the list so that is a plus too. Anyway, Nance said that if I wanted one to get it and she would help me with the cost for my birthday. . . So another one bites the dust. I also figured that since I had an iPhone I should use it to update the blog about getting it and making this possible. I'll update the list and cross it off later. Have a great weekend. I'm flying to Key West with Jen tomorrow for my birthday.

"YOU CAN HAVE ANYTHING THAT YOU WANT IF YOU WANT IT BADLY ENOUGH"


-- Post From My iPhone


Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Day 147 - 100 Visitors and Counting!!!

#80 - Get 100 people to View This Blog - I installed a counter on my blog about 30 days after I started the blog and thought that it would keep track of visitors. As of the time I am writing this I have had 654 "Visitors" to this page, but after talking to my buddy Bea and some research later I have found that a counter like this only keeps track of page views. So I needed something more accurate... Enter Google Analytics. On March 22nd I installed the Analytics tracking on my site and it as been recording data ever since. This program is amazing and keeps track of "Absolute Unique Visitors" through the use of cookies.
Over the past 18 days I have driven 128 Absolute Unique Visitors which satisfies #80 by far. It also tracks the number of Page Views, Bounce Rate, Average Page Views per Visit and Percentages to go with all of those calculations. I will post updates to #80 because I think its fascinating and its my blog!! I have also used Google WebMaster Tools, SiteMaps and Meta Tags to try to increase my google page ranking. These things should also help when I do #56, #57, and #58. Here are some screenshots from the Google Analytics Site.

Visitor Overview

Page Views of Visitors

Absolute Unique Visitors



#72 - Read 50 Books: (10/50) now (11/50)
John Grishams` - The Broker
Doyle Brunsons` - Super System
Tom Clancys` - Patriot Games
Michael L. Kurtz` - The JFK Assassination Debates: Lone Gunman Versus Conspiracy
David Dunbars` - Debunking 9/11 Myths
David Griffens` - Debunking 9/11 Debunking
Randy Pauschs` - The Last Lecture
Bonnie Szumskis` - Are Conspiracy Theories Valid?
Lifes` - The American Journey of Barack Obama
Harvey Frommers` - Remembering Yankee Stadium
... Timothy Ferris` - The Four Hour Work Week

#24 - Learn 50 New Recipes: (7/50) now (8/50)
Oreo Truffles
Buffalo Chicken and Cheese Dip
Cheesy Potato Casserole
Grilled Vegetables in Caramelized Italian Dressing
Cheeseburger Chowder
Eclair Cake
Minestrone Soup
... New and Improved - Turbo Inside Out Burgers

#77 - Do 250 Geocaches (19/250) now (31/250) Motts and I went caching in and around Westbrook today and did about a 2.5mile hike. I think we might go again tomorrow too. Exchanged the travel bug I got in Ohio with the NY Bravest travel bug, I plan on bringing all travel bugs and geocoins to the Florida Keys for placement down there.

Coming Soon - Motts is back from his world tour and wants to brew his own beers to so I think next week when I get back from The Florida Keys we will start the brewing process. I will be doing some caches in Florida. Also, it is starting to warm up so throwdowns will be coming into full swing. I will write down some rules and guidelines so if you want to challenge someone you can! That's all for now!

"YOU CAN HAVE ANYTHING THAT YOU WANT IF YOU WANT IT BADLY ENOUGH"

Friday, April 3, 2009

Day 142 - A Trip to Marist

#94 - Go to Trivia Night at Hyde Park Brewery - Im not going to lie it was different, and the crew wasnt there. Timy couldn`t make it and he normally runs the show at Trivia, writing down the answers, getting the answer from the right person and such. He was missed and the original crew was too. Also absent was the win! Its okay though, Collins and I represented (actually we didnt, we had been drinking for about 5 hrs at that point, the Marist green and the atmosphere will do that to you, plus Noahs and their free wings and Honey Brown, that stuffs like moonshine in Poughtown)
Anyway, We met Double Time, Apfelicus, and Kenny there and did what we could. We had the same food that we always had too... Collins got the Mozzarella Sticks and I got my Teriyaki Wings. Collins didnt even ask if I wanted them he just ordered them and when they showed up I was pumped. Collins also remembered our team name that treated us to many-a-win there, Hippity Hoopla. (It sounds better when you can yell it.) Good Times nonetheless. Thanks to Corey and Kenny for putting us up and allowing us to shower and sleep!!! Ill cross it off the list!





#100 - Make at least 5 Trips a Year to Visit Friends - This trip, coupled with my trips to Boston to see Merissa and go to Brookies` Christening, and another trip or two to see Johhny, Liz, Donny and crew puts me at 3 trips this year. Currently taking itineraries and applications for the 4th and 5th visits of this year!!

#77 - Do 250 Geocaches (19/250)... now (28/250) Collins and I got up to Fishkill around 1pm and did caches as we went up Route 9. We dropped off a TravelBug I had for a while and picked up a Supercacher GeoCoin which Ill have to cache here somewhere.

Definitions - (provided by Wiki)

Travel Bug - A Travel Bug is a registered trademark of Groundspeak, Inc. used to describe a dogtag used in Geocaching. It is moved from cache to cache, and its travels can be logged on the geocaching website (www.geocaching.com).Each travel bug tag is printed with a unique PIN, which is needed to post a log online. Some tags are fastened to an object, such as a plastic figurine, before they are let loose. Some travel bugs have missions to travel to a specific cache, location or a certain type of location. Other travel bugs simply have the goal of traveling as far and widely as possible. Similar to a travel bug, a geocoin is a coin printed with a tracking number, to allow its movement to be logged online

Geocoin - Some travel bugs have missions to travel to a specific cache, location or a certain type of location. Other travel bugs simply have the goal of traveling as far and widely as possible. Similar to a travel bug, a geocoin is a coin printed with a tracking number, to allow its movement to be logged online. They may be placed in geocaches to be found by others and kept as trophies, moved from cache to cache like a Travel Bug, traded, given to other cachers like a calling card, or merely sold and collected.


In other News - I am going to start cooking a little more and also have a couple books that I have to read that I got from the library. I am also probably going to go Vegetarian for the last 30 days before Day 180. Check out Collins` blog too. Read it here!

"YOU CAN HAVE ANYTHING THAT YOU WANT IF YOU WANT IT BADLY ENOUGH"