I am returning my focus to my blog

I know it has been 6 months since I have posted on my blog. Part of that was due to a lot of changes at my job and going from working part-time to full-time hours while still attending school. I just didn't have much free time. Now that summer is approaching and I will not be taking any classes, I will have more time to devote to my blog. Fair warning: come July, I will be heading to Disney for a much needed vacation so you can expect a lot of posts regarding WDW. I have a lot of posts to catch up on in the coming weeks before July and a fair amount of pcitures to post and write about.

Blog rollback

At the suggestion of some of readers, I have reverted my blog back to a previously used template because they were having trouble with reading white type on a black background.  I liked the black background myself since it made my pictures pop more but I also want my readers to be able to read my blog without getting a headache or worse.  I will continue to tweak and change things as I go to make this an enjoyable and fun site to visit.  Thank you all for your feedback and patience!

Music player added

I have added a music player that streams my a few of my old mixes.  Unfortunately, there are gaps between the tracks when playing through.  I haven't found a music player that's free which will play the seperate tracks through without an audible gap yet.  In the meantime, enjoy my old mixes on my Music Spin tab.

New tabs added for future content on Project WHom 365

I have added two new tabs to my blog for additional content.  I'm hoping to gradually add more interesting media to the site such as my pictures and old music mixes from my DJ days.  I plan on eventually setting up my equipment and making new mixes of my old music collection since a lot of my analog mixes have been lost.  It will be a lot of fun getting back on the mixing console and playing with my old Tech 1200s and Denon DN 2500.  I do have some of my old mixes which I have digitized but they still need to be edited and uploaded to my reverbnation account for Internet streaming.  I will be adding a music gadget for streaming my old mixes in the coming weeks after the editing has been completed and the tracks are uploaded.

Target Store 2446 Remodel 2011

 

I had the privilege of working with a fine team over this past Summer and into the Fall during the "P-Fresh" Remodel of Target Store 2446.  It was difficult working all night into the early morning but I have to say that the people I worked with made it easier.  We worked extremely hard to be completed on schedule and we had fun doing it - well for the most part.  There were some challenges along the way but we met each one and got the job done. 

Luci Buccini from the Phillipsburg Target was great to work with on a nightly basis.  Amy, who was Exec for our remodel, did well by choosing Luci to manage the day-to-day transitions as our Team Lead.  Luci made every thing extremely smooth and had a great plan going into the remodel.  We also got a lot of help from new Team Members who signed on specifically for the remodel.  Existing Team Members from our store comprised of the rest of the team.  I have to give props to the "Swat" team (I called them Team 2) who came in after us to complete the second phase of each night's workload.

I had a lot of fun working the remodel but I am glad to be back on days.  I do miss working with the remodel team even though I do get to work with some of them during the day now that we have been transitioned back to the regular departments.  It's just not the same now as it was when we were all working same shift every night.  Thank you all for making it an enjoyable experience!

Mariano Rivera #42 - Greatest Closer of All-Time

Photo courtesy of http://www.graphicshunt.com/

Mariano will go down in history as the greatest closer of all-time in Major League Baseball.  Arguments can be made that the closer role is different now then it was during the 70's and early '80s when it more difficult to save games since closers usually pitched multiple innings per outing.  There is even a "Hold" stat now for relievers who pitch an inning prior to a save.  For me, it's clear cut.  As soon as Hoffman and Rivera breached the 600 saves milestones, they were excluded from the previous argument because that's more than 122 more saves than Lee Smith had in his career - the previous career saves leader.

Now Rivera and Hoffman are tied for the all-time career saves lead.  Mariano is expected to break Hoffman's record this week.  If it doesn't happen later today in Toronto, it will probably happen during the 8-game homestand.  I'm hoping that the Yankees don't have a save situation in today's game so he can get #602 at Yankee Stadium.  The crowd will be electric and the game will have a playoff-like atmosphere.  It will be a nice prelude to this year's Playoffs.

Speaking of Playoffs, Mariano's 42 saves in Playoff games is a mark that may never be broken.  With the Playoffs looming, Mariano is likely to add to that total and may even breach 50 Postseason saves this year (possible, but not likely).  I think if Mariano reaches 50 Postseason saves before he retires, the mark would be equivalent to Pete Rose's 4,256 hits or Cy Young's 511 wins.  The reason I say this is that there is no team other than the Yankees who make it deep into the Playoffs every year.  Now a case can be made for the Phillies as they have won their division 5 years in a row but they don't have a dominant closer right now.

Update: Mariano just closed out career save #602 at Yankee Stadium against the Minnesota Twins.  Another perfect 9th inning ending with a caught-looking strikeout with Mo painting the black on the outside corner.  Congratulations to Mariano Rivera!!

I've heard of bats in the belfry but...

bats on my bumper?!?  I didn't even know I hit the bat until someone at work told me about it.  It was still on my bumper when I finished work and stayed on for the ride home.  I was creeped out but I still found the nerve to get close ups of the unfortunate nocturnal mammal.  He then got the plastic bag disposal...no last rites, just a unceremonial toss into the garbage can.  You can click on the image for an enlarged view - if you dare!