Thorny devil that is. Some time back John sent Miquel a thorny devil figure. Vicious looking but delicate, it survived the trip from Australia to Maryland, but it wasn't long it broke and had to be glued back together. We didn't have the wall unit back then so I took it off Miquel to have it safely kept in my room. Later, we got the wall unit put up and created what I like to call, an "Australia Shelf." There, the thorny devil ... Read More

The state of Illinois is nearly bankrupt. For years, the state has spent beyond its means and ignored its unpaid bills and obligations. Illinois currently faces a budget deficit of $14-15 Billion and total debt of around $140 Billion. Paralyzed by the worst deficit in its history, the state has fallen months behind in paying what it owes to businesses and organizations, pushing some of them to the edge of bankruptcy. Illinois isn't bothering with ... Read More

I thought this was interesting. Taken from Business Pundit: 25. Raghib “Rocket” Ismael Notre Dame/Dallas Cowboys star; received the largest 3-year deal in football history Estimated lifetime earnings: $20 Million No jail time, drug charges or bankruptcy here, just bad business moves. Financial vultures bled Ismael’s riches by selling him their “fool-proof” investments. After bypassing the NFL as the presumptive #1 pick, Ismael went to the Canadian Football League and signed the largest deal in their history. He played two years in Canada and 10 ... Read More

Last year about this time, through an interesting set of events, (Laura calls it from heaven), we received a Panasonic high-definition big screen TV. We were excited to watch it, only to find after some detective work, it wasn't operating correctly due to a broken lamp. I phoned Panasonic, and found out that the lamp was shattered and would need to be replaced...for $283.00. I quickly hung up to decide if that was worth it. After some time,  decided to buy the ... Read More

My son Miquel is quite an athelete. Ever since I can remember, he could pick up, kick, smash, toss, any ball, paddle, raquet, bat, and frisbee and do it with God given natural abilities. He always looked like one of those "naturals' you hear spoke of. He does it well and he does it all with flair. I often tease him to stick with athletics, because when it comes to electronics, this realm often disappoints him. The computer world has not ... Read More