Overrated!

Alright, so I have another rant to go on. It is about this year's sports year. I love sports but this past year has been overrated so far in the year. It seems to me in a non Olympic year sports does not live up to expectations. Last year we had a great sports year. The Super Bowl, need I say more! A great NCAA Tournament ending with Mario Chalmers and his shot that was "called a 3 but really was a 2" to beat Memphis. We also had Tiger in an incredible display of will and strength win the US Open. Then we had the Tampa Bay Rays come out of nowhere to make the World Series. We also had the Celtics beating the Lakers in the Finals. And of course the Olympics with Phelps and others coming up big for the USA.



But we hit a road bump in the World Series. The series was crap. The Phillies weren't that good and the Rays were better than they played. This is around the time after Texas Tech beat Texas in Lubbuck. But this was the peak! After which, Texas got hosed to go into the National Championship game. BSU/TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl was less than memorable and the Utah upset of Alabama was no fun because Alabama was not prepared and Utah was just the better team. The Super Bowl was crap because of the referees again GIFTING the game to the Steelers. Both the Seahawks and Cardinals were better teams those nights and they both got HOSED. Then baseball starts off bad with Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez having steroids linked to them and then no one is going to baseball games because of the economy. And now the sports world went to a new low!



Last week with the Lakers "winning" the NBA championship, the sports world failed more than it ever has. The Magic were obviously the better team. Granted turnovers and missed free throws and a shot that was goal tended would have turned that series the other way. But here is the point. WE ALL LOSE! We all lose a year of our lives. Know this Lakers fans, the Magic won their championship by beating LeBron and the Celtics. And if the Celtics had the most influential player in the league, Kevin Garnett, we would be talking about a two-peat. The only reason Kobe or as he will be known as in my blog as Tobe (from Roots) won MVP and the championship was because he had no one to guard defensively. He didn't have Paul Pierce or LeBron running down the lane and schooling him. He had Mickael Pietrus to guard! And even then he got tired and Pietrus schooled him for almost for double figures every night!

But here is the point of my rant. I have not yet accepted the championship teams as champions. Steelers stole theirs, North Carolina had an easy field, and the Lakers are the worst champions of the past 20 years. The only real champions were the Florida Gators and the Pittsburgh Penguins. But even then, Florida won easily and the NHL is irrelevant. So people, this is not a good year for sports. But let's wait to see what football and the World Series brings us this year. I hope for the best!

EXCUSES, EXCUSES!

Alright, this little article really set me off. Ford Excuses

Now seriously, the Ford CEO is telling me that because the government has issued to many regulations, that you can't think of new innovation?! You know what, work around the stupid regulations like your accountant does with your taxes so you don't have to pay anything! Regulations are the reason why Honda has come up with a Hydrogen car or why Toyota came out with the Prius or because Asian companies are kicking your trash in auto making? Makes no sense whatsoever. They just figured out how to make better cars with working with the system. Just admit it, those Asian automakers are better than yours! Now what do you have to do to better than them. That is why you hire engineers. Quit spending money on coming up with new ways to make the same car. In fact, Ford here is what you do. Do not release a new line of vehicles for the year of 2010. No new 2010 Taurus, F-150, or nothing. Just make what your demand is. Invest that money into new R&D and beat Toyota! Beat them to a pulp. Pretty simple, but I guess its a little hard to make a rash decision in a company that can't make those types of decision. Anyway, there is my rant! Get over yourself Ford and get to work!

What the world can learn from....Video games

Yesterday I watched the E3 press conference from Nintendo. It was awesome. But first, for those who don't know what E3 is, it is a video game conference where new ideas and games are introduced to the world. For example, Nintendo showed off Super Mario Bros Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and a new finger pulse recognizer. But Microsoft introduced a camera that is motion sensored so your movements, without controllers, can be captured on the game. Sony introduced Wii like controllers but a little more refined. All just great stuff. I am excited for Nintendo's announcements and Sony's as well. But the reason I am saying all this and how the world can learn from them is because of continuous innovation!

GM and Chrysler really showed how stupid companies don't continuously improve. First, they don't make cars more economical. GM thought that making the Hummer more accesible would lead to big success, while Hyundai came from nowhere to become a huge player in automobiles just because they made their cars better and offered more to the customer. And yes, I would love to buy an American car. I would prefer it. But there is one HUGE problem with that. They are not as reliable, dependable, or as well made as foreign cars are now. Why is Toyota and Honda leading the Hybrid charge? Why is Toyota the #1 car maker in the world now? Continuous innoviation, that is why. This is why I love where I am working at CBH Homes. We constantly try to find ways to improve and see how to make things better. They tell us to read and to learn more things. To become educated in all kinds of things and use that learning in the company.

But here is what we can learn from video games. When a new system comes out, for example this generation of Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii, we all require a sense of improvement or we won't buy it. The Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 both got HD graphics and helped bring along high definition. The Wii brought motion controls. This is why people are buying the systems. Not only that, the companies think of new ways to use these systems. Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 all have downloading video capabilities, Xbox 360 has Netflix access, Playstation 3 has the new Home program. The Wii is trying to get there, but the keyword is TRYING!! They know that if they can add to the power of their current systems and the cost to the customer will go down, then it is a win win for everyone! Why can't other companies do this? Why can't GM just say we aren't coming out with a new model of GMC Sierra and focus on refining it and cutting the cost on it so that they can offer incentives to customers? Why can't Citibank just see that in order to keep business, they should drop their interest rates and helping people will bring them more business instead have to wait for the President to sign a law to make them do it? Just think, if the world was run by video game companies, could our financial situation be better? Just think about it!

Great news!!

So I just saw this article on Yahoo!. It says that sales in real estate were up in March. Here is the link. This is great news. Since working at CBH Homes, I have been even more excited about the real estate market because of how well the company is doing, especially my team here in Canyon County. This is great news!

But the best news I read today was the fact that OPTIMISM is coming into the market. Investors are starting to feel that the economy is getting better. This is wonderful. Let us cheer this on! Granted don't go blow all of your savings but I think we are moving in the right direction.

I am enjoying working at CBH Homes and if anybody needs a home in the Caldwell, Nampa, or Middleton area, we are here at the office from 9-8 every day. Also, visit the website to see what we have available.

Updating blog!

Ok, I have been recently unemployed until now. I got a job as a sales specialist for CBH Homes. I am excited. Even though it is in real estate CBH is doing pretty good here in the Treasure Valley. I will be working in Canyon County and I am excited. But part of my interview process, I was told to buy Strengths Finders 2.0. I highly recommend it. In fact, I am going to link it here.

Amazon link

It tought me a lot. Part of it is that you take a test so you learn your top 5 strengths. One of my top 5 is communication. To put this strength into action, I was told to write things. I figured it would be a good time to continue in my blog. So here is the deal, I am going to use my blog and update on my family, work, and what I think is going on in business since that is what I am doing. So here we go.

First, Sharen and I are pumped for our baby boy to come to us. We are excited. I am so excited and I want him to come sooner than later. I love Sharen and all that she does to make sure that he is OK. But here is where the business is going to come in. I am excited to have him in my family but I am nervous for him and his future. The economy is down obviously but I think negative people are making it worse. People just keeping things negative, I feel, are making people nervous. It is just time to chill, not spend as much and we will all be fine. We don't have to buy that third car or that second house just yet. Just pay your bills and enjoy life. Today was my first day at CBH homes and the main thing I have learned is to think positive and look at everything in a positive light. I am going to really work on that. So yes the economy is down but it will pick up.

Me and Twilight

Alright, so Sharen really loves Twilight. She started to read the books over spring break on her trip to San Antonio with her family. She really got into them and for her birthday she got the three books available and the fourth book on order from Amazon. She read the fourth one so quick. I was happy to see her read a book. I have tried to read a book here and there but it is hard. But the movie comes out this weekend and I am excited for Sharen. She is really excited and I am very happy for that.

Me on the other hand, I am just excited to join Sharen. It's not that I don't care about the book and movie, I actually started to read the first book, but me personnally, I am not excited. Now Sharen has told me the story basically and it sounds very interesting, hence why I started to read the book. But I will explain in a bit why I am not TOO excited.

But first, I want to express my thanks to Stephenie Meyer, the author of the series. She not only wrote interesting stories, but gave our youth something to read. In an era where TV, the internet, cell phones, and everything that is going on, I was glad to see that the youth of this nation are reading. It maybe just one book but they are still reading. They have something else to read other than gossip magazines! This is something that makes me very happy. It isn't Harry Potter where it was more for a 8-10 year old. It is for teenagers. Teenagers need to read and they finally have something that interests them and gets them to do something that they need.

Now onto the movie. First here is the trailer so we are all on the right page.



I am very excited to be at the theater early with Sharen. This is the first movie that she wants to see and we will be seeing the midnight premiere. I am excited for that. But I am not too excited for the movie and here is why. From what Sharen has told me, the story is pretty interesting. The Cullens seem cool and they are supposed to have a pretty sweet Mercedes in the movie but here is where the excitement ends. First, the trailer doesn't make me want to see the movie. The way it looks is not what I had imagined. Bella and Edward, to me, are kind of ugly. They also don't look good together. It just isn't them. It's how the movie feels and looks. The trailer does not give justice to what Sharen has told me about the story.

The other blockbuster this year, The Dark Knight, the trailer did it great justice. Here it is.



It left people hanging and excited. I loved the movie. Whenever I did watch the trailer I got more and more excited. Watching it again just gets me excited for the Blu-Ray release on December 9. I can't wait.

So here is my final verdict. I am anticipating the movie more because of Sharen and because I don't want it to suck for Sharen. But you know how sometimes great trailers leads to crappy movies, let's hope a crappy trailer leads to a great movie!!

New Links

Here is a set of links to the new readers. The two of you.

Sharen's Blog

This is where I get all of my HD News
I know that I am a nerd.

Here is a link to some of my mission
pics

My favorite video website is Hulu. You can catch up on The Office and other NBC and Fox favorites. Also watch Friday Night Lights and get ready for the new season coming in the winter. Finally, but definately not least, all of the seasons of Arrested Development are available on there. Please watch it, for your own sake.

You can play an updated version of the classic Oregon Trail from elementary school days here.

I got that from a website called Download Squad. It gives a bunch of computer and download information. And it also features posts called Time wasters. These are fantastic. For the most part they are games but addictive. Great stuff.

That is all for now, but I will need to remember some of the links that I am sent and put them here. I am going to try to keep my blog updated.

P.S. Everyone route for the Aberdeen Tigers. They are in the state semifinals. I found out today that if Nampa Christian beats Declo, they would play here in Boise on The Blue. I would be there. GO TIGERS!!