Community Involvement

I have always taken an interest in the community I live in and I have tried to remain involved in any changes that might affect my family’s environment. Therefore, when the opportunity to become President of our HOA arose I eagerly accepted. Although, I am not sure I realized the kind of undertaking managing an association would be.

When the transition first occurred there was a lot of turnout at the community meetings which is really important. However, after a few months the attendance began to wane. I tried to offer incentives for attending but it seemed like they made very little impact. Finally, I realized that the reason most people didn’t attend was because they were unaware that the meeting was being held. One of the other board members suggested using some HOA software that would help us manage the meetings and send out reminders to the residents and I quickly jumped at the opportunity to improve.

Now, we have reminders set up a few weeks before the meeting and then again two nights before. HOA management is happy to see better attendance and it makes our jobs so much easier to know where our community stands on the issues at hand.

The Inauguration Is Coming!

I just can’t imagine what it must be like to live in or around the D.C. area with this inauguration coming around. It must just seem like an impending nightmare to those people who live there, what with the blockades, the motorcades, the parades---and then the non-rhyming words such as the security, the crowds and the trash. If I lived there, I’d get out of town and go to one of those Orlando Florida villas or something.

We hosted the DNC here in Denver last August, and that was bad enough! Freeway closures, the complete saturation of the airwaves and my kids—ugh! I teach high school, and they ALL seemed to have to miss school to go to that. I worked it myself in a concession stand, and that was a nightmare in and of itself. We had to park across town, have our licenses run, take a bus whose driver clearly had no idea of the shortest route between Coors Field and Invesco Field, where Obama’s speech was held, and then they made us walk a two mile route from where the bus dropped us off with several security checkpoints along the way. The worst was afterward: they seemed to drop all crowd control whatsoever as we exited, the elderly were stumbling over the rocks and railroad tracks along the forced exit route, and the city workers began taking down the concrete barricades while the cars and busses were attempting to take us from the area, honking things up miserably.

Although it was nice to have the city prettified for the event, I never want to do that again. The inauguration will only be worse—run, don’t walk, to that Florida villa!

Yellow, Rose or White, you Can Sell Scrap Gold Online

Many people think that the only way one can sell scrap gold is through a brick and mortar pawn shop. What would surprise many is that you can pawn jewelry items via an online broker. Utilizing an online pawn shop is an awesome way to get rid of items that may have been just lying around in an abandoned jewelry box or drawer for years.

Although yellow gold is the most prevalently used, an internet pawn broker will even buy white and rose gold as it can be sold to a business that is looking for this type of metal.

The methodology that is involved in using an online shop usually depends on the business itself. Some people tell the company what they have and an assessment is made via online communiqué. In other situations an agreement is made and jewelry is mailed to the broker.

Online brokers are a magnificent way to sell the gold jewelry that you have on hand; in fact, online pawn shops are the best places to get great money for your old jewelry.

Just be sure to do your research to locate the Internet shop that best suits your needs. With some comparison shopping and a little ingenuity, you will be able to find an online broker that will buy your gold for the best price imaginable.

Birthday Present Nirvana

My brother's birthday is coming up, but I really don't know what to get him. He already has everything he wants—an iPod, an Xbox 360, a bass guitar—and he hasn't been forthcoming with any obvious hints. He still likes to collect Buddhas, though, so I'm considering buying a mounted wall fountain in the shape of Buddha. Everyone likes fountains, right?

He has mostly those small Buddha figurines you see in mall kiosks and Chinese restaurants. It's kind of a weird hobby, but I guess it's innocent enough. The thing is, he doesn't know anything about Buddhism; he just got into collecting them because they were chubby and cheery like he was.

And I don't even know if he understands how to put wall water fountains together. He's not exactly Mister Fix-It. This one time, when we were kids, he somehow broke the handle off of our old Radio Flyer wagon, and he tried to put it back together using Scotch tape. I could forgive him if he wasn't twelve at the time.

Still, I'm getting kind of desperate here. He got me a nice digital camera for my birthday a few months ago, and I always have to try and outdo him.

Summer Trip to California’s Beautiful State Beach

Every summer, my family takes a week long vacation to the Carlsbad State Beach in California. We have friends and family that live in Carlsbad and San Diego, which are both very close to the campground and beach. We usually go swimming and fishing, but other people surf, skin dive and picnic at the beach, too. It’s sort of a funny thing about the public showers there; you need to get tokens from the ranger station in order to shower. I’m the one that normally has to go to the token machines to get more tokens when we run out of them.

This year, my uncle and his family came to the campground to camp and do some fishing with us. They had just moved into one of the new Townhomes in Carlsbad. He told my dad that we should think about moving into one of them also. He took us over to his new place and gave us a tour. It was a perfect design for my dad’s business.

My parents talked about it for a couple of weeks and decided that since his business is conducted from his home office, it wouldn’t be difficult to move there. So, next year we will probably keep our annual tradition of going to the state beach to camp and fish, but we will be traveling only about 3 miles from our new home in carlsbad ca.

Tattoos: Not That Bad

Tattoos are a great piece of art. The person that does the tattoo itself is one of the most talented of artists. They not only need to see the vision of the individual who wants the tattoo, but they also have to keep in mind the in depth design: the color, the styling, and every other detail just has to be as close to perfect as it is possible to come. After all, tattoos are nearly permanent which means that you will want the look to be perfect the first time out.

There are many amazing designs to consider for your tattoo art. For example, many people enjoy the Aquarius tattoos as these provide them with a look at something a bit more whimsical and wishful. On the other hand, you may have something completely different in mind with star tattoos. Take some time to think. What is it that really makes a tattoo so great? And, what can you choose that will honor your body? There are many different types of designs available and, if you really cannot find the one that you really want, you can also have an artist create one for you. This is an important decision so make it a wise decision.

My American Tour

Apparently it's true what they say about us Brits. One of the very first things I noticed when I arrived in Washington DC was being greeted by sets of perfectly pearly white teeth. Looking at my own reflection in the airport bathroom, I thought I'd break the mirror. My crooked slightly yellow teeth hadn't really stood out when I was walking the streets of London to work, but here I feel almost ashamed to smile. The first stop on my tour of the nation's capital was the White House. A family of American's asked me to take a picture of them standing in front of it. As I looked through the viewfinder and said “say cheese!” I was nearly blinded by their bright white teeth.

Perhaps it is the norm to find a Washington DC dentist to whiten your teeth specifically for pictures next to the White House? I next headed to the Lincoln Memorial and found a group of young students out on a field trip. They too had the perfect smile a Brit like myself could only dream of. I thought about asking them, “can you give me a list of the best dentists in Washington DC? And if you can, which ones offer sedation dentistry in DC because us English folk aren't exactly immune to the pain a dentist might inflict!” I decided against asking them, thinking I'd rather keep my mouth shut and teeth hidden. Next on the agenda is New York. I hear the Big Apple is a lot like London. Maybe it's a DC thing to have perfect teeth and it isn't all through America. Otherwise, I'm going to need to find some whitening toothpaste and a dental surgeon and fast!

Mexican Dentists

I go to Mexico a lot. I have lived in the Phoenix Arizona area for a very long time, and only four hours south of here is a little town on the Sea of Cortez called Rocky Point. I guess it started out as a fishing village, but now it is really more of a tourist town. There are giant world class condos, paved roads, nice restaurants and great shopping. People take their quads and lifted golf carts down and even ride them on the streets when hopping from cantina to cantina.

It has gotten so Americanized that they even have a KFC and a Domino’s Pizza. It’s kind of cool because the pizza delivery drivers use little motorcycles with a box on the back to deliver the pizzas. Like I said, they have all the modern amenities.

So I don’t know why I was so surprised when I saw a sign for tooth whitening. I guess my thought was that there would be no way that cosmetic dentistry would exist in what I sort of had considered a third world country. It turns out that dental whitening is legitimate down there though, and most of the dentists are even board certified.

Playing Paintball This Weekend

My buddies want me to go with them this weekend to play paintball. I have never really had an interest in hunting or that sort of thing. I have taught rifle classes at my local 4-H camp in the past, but that is about the extent of it. Paintball to me looks to be a lot of fun.

For those of you that don’t know, each player has some type of airsoft gun, which is a gun that shoots a non-lethal projectile. In this case, it is paint. You then go out into the woods commando style and try to shoot your buddies. If you get shot, you are out of the game.

I am a large guy, so I will make a pretty easy target in this game. To counterbalance this disadvantage, I am going to buy my own gun from tokyo murui. They have all different types of guns, including long range guns and sniper rifles.

Kwa guns look awesome as well. They have M16 and P90 guns that look similar to the real thing. I think I will be sure not to carry them in the open in my car in case I get pulled over. While it’s just an airsoft gun, it looks realistic enough to get me in trouble.

The game this weekend should be a lot of fun. I plan to play for keeps.