Make Me Stop!!!!!!!!!!!

I've really been getting into ukulele music lately. Here's some of the best girls on YouTube playing the uke. Check 'em out.

Danielle Ate the Sandwich (my number one pick)



Ukulelezo comes in number 2



Julia Nunes has a really promising future too!

What's in a Word?

Been playing around with keyword search engine metrics. Check out Google Insights for Search(beta) for a fascinating look into the subject.

Let's see what kind of traffic I can generate with some of the more popular words.......

coffee shop, coffee maker, coffee cup, coffee table, starbucks coffee, starbucks coffe, coffee house, coffee break, hot coffee, prince keurig, keurig coffee, iced coffee, calories in coffee, coffee calories, costa coffee,Papua, New Guinea, Ethiopia, United States, Australia, Rwanda, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Singapore, New Zealand,Philippines, Canada, a h1n1, symptoms h1n1, virus h1n1, h1n1 flu, flu, gripe, h1n1 influenza, h1n1, influenza grippe, h1n1 symptoms, h1n1 swine flu, h1n1 swine flu influenza, a h1n1 vaccine, h1n1 sintomas, grippe h1n1, flu vaccine,seasonal flu, vaccine h1n1, seasonal flu,h1n1 flu seasonal, flu shot, seasonal flu symptoms, seasonal influenza, seasonal flu deaths, flu deaths, 2009 seasonal flu,helium balloon,ballon a helium, helium ballons,helium gas ballon, helium gas,gas ballon, helium pour ballon, helium balloons,ballonnen,ballon helium tank,half marathon, marathon training, london marathon, boston marathon, marathon new york, chicago marathon, marathon paris, berlin marathon,la marathon, half marathon training,sushi games,sushi game,planet sushi,ra sushi,sushi shop,sushi west,sushi ya,sushi town,sushi menu,sushi king,youtube ukelele,ukelele weeps, ukelele gently weeps,ukelele tuner, jake ukelele,ukelele player,jake shimabukuro, ukelele online tuner,ukelele mac,ukelele orchestra, youtube taylor swift, vma taylor swift, taylor swift video,taylor swift songs,taylor swift music, taylor swift lyrics,kanye west,kanye taylor swift,kanye, fearless taylor swift,rachel ray show, rachael ray sucks, rachael ray oprah, rachael ray divorce, rachael ray diet, rachael ray cookware, everyday rachael ray, rachael ray show, rachael ray recipes, rachael ray recipe,bbq grill,bbq chicken,bbq sauce,bbq recipes, bbq ribs, how to bbq, bbq pork, gas bbq,barbeque, weber, bbq grillware, hawaiian bbq,famous daves bbq, famous daves,baked bbq chicken,korean bbq,bbq pizza, bbq bbq menu,the bachelor, shawn johnson,julianne hough, edyta sliwinska,derek hough, cheryl burke, abc.com,julianne hough, cheryl burke, shawn johnson,the bachelor, the biggest loser, edyta sliwinska, dwts, derek hough, brooke burke,Survivor Samoa

New Apple iMac Release Date Annoucement!

I've been on pins and needles waiting for news of the new 2010 Apple iMac release date. You see my old Windows desktop is on its last leg- the perfect time to switch! For what I do, Apple seems like the logical choice. Besides, I'm fed up with poor performance, worrying about constant virus and malware threats, and the silliness of the entire Vista/Win 7 platform.

The journey to the "other side" began with a visit to a local Apple retail store. I spent time asking all the pertinent questions and playing with the applications. The result? A 24-inch : 2.66 GHz model won out over all the others.

So, I wait........

Stay tuned.

.......Like a Southbound Train

I don't know why but every time I hear the song "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show it transports me back to my life on the Appalachian Trail.................Enjoy!

Do I Have the Swine Flu (H1N1)?

Yikes! I woke up this past Saturday feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. My throat was sore and I wondered if I managed to swallow a box of sheet rock screws in the middle of the night. No fever initially but then it rose to 101 degrees and stayed that way all day long. Coffee, orange juice, and a toasted English muffin was about all I could stomach. Back to bed.

Kim and I had plans to meet friends for a wine tasting later in the evening and I held out hope of feeling good enough to attend the festivities but........ in the interest of not infecting everyone there I called the host and gracefully bowed out.

October has never been a good month for me. I somehow manage to get sick every October and have for as far back as I can remember. Change of season, bad DNA strands, alignment of the stars? Who knows why this happens. Thank goodness I wasn't still on the Appalachian Trail huh?

My fever broke Monday evening and on Tuesday I ran out and got my annual "seasonal" flu shot. According to the CDC, you can get a flu shot at the same time you have a respiratory illness without fever or if you have another mild illness. Still feels kind of weird getting a shot when you feel light headed and your heads pounding.

Our local H1N1 flu vaccination program is starting off pretty haphazardly since the Mecklenburg County Health Department pre-ordered way too few doses. If they run this program like the Fed's did Cash for Clunkers it will be a big fiasco.

Stay tuned........

Musings about the H1N1 Vaccine

Can someone explain this to me? How in the world can we come up with a vaccine to battle the H1N1 Swine Flu in less than a year and we can't even figure out a way to do the same thing for diseases like Cancer, Herpes, Lyme Disease, Dengue Fever, etc...?


No wonder the U.S. healthcare debate is so raucous.

Model Rocketry, Onboard Video

I'm getting bored after thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. Time to explore a new hobby. Been scoping out model rocketry. As a kid I built several small scale Estes rockets and always enjoyed launching them.

My, my how the hobby's grown up. Seems the big boys have progressed the sport to new heights. Now rockets are being constructed with mid and high power reloadable motors. Some even carrying electronic payload bays like altimeters and onboard mini digital video cameras.

Makes me drool. Check this out. AAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!! What a ride!!!!!!!!!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

A strangely hypnotic twist on an old western classic movie tune

Enjoy!

Test Driving the 2010 Toyota Prius IV

The lure of driving a "greener" automobile and getting better gas mileage has infected me more acutely than the H1N1 Swine Flu. It all started after I returned from my Appalachian Trail hike and began driving my current vehicle- a 2006 Toyota Tundra Double Cab. Don't get me wrong, I like my truck but it's never met a gas station it didn't like.

The damn thing sucks gas like no tomorrow and my retirement income just can't take it anymore. I need some relief! Besides, I can get by without having all the hauling capacity. So, let the car hunt begin!

I narrowed down my choices between a Honda Accord EX-L and the 2010 Toyota Prius IV. I want leather seats to caress my bum and these models have that option. My research reveals both are excellent choices so the final decision boils down to a choice between good gas mileage or hyper gas mileage.

There's no shortage of Hondas in my hometown but that's not the case with the Prius. It's the hot car now and every dealer I called has a waiting list. I want to test drive one since the reviews from west coast owners has been spotty on the new model. Most car magazines laud the 2010 Prius model for revolutionary upgrades and engine performance but the "average joe" reviews hasn't been so perky. Most of the complaints revolve around the "cheap" look and feel of the interior. Mainly the amount and types of plastics used inside as well as the thin feel of the leather seats. Not the sort of comments you expect for a $20,000 plus automobile.

I decided to see for myself. This past Saturday a local dealer called me to say he one on his lot. I arrived there on Sunday to take the puppy for a spin. Let me say, I've driven previous model Prius' before and enjoyed the ride. Sure they're different than a conventional car but not by much. The silent running engine was the most noticeable adjustment for me.

Back to the 2010 model- The interior was adequate and I didn't really mind the look and feel of it. The leather seat material was thinner than expected but not as bad as I had been led to believe. The seats were comfortable but there's really no way of telling if that same comfort would be there after 400-500 miles on a road trip. Seat adjustments are manual on all Prius models due to weight concerns. Hmmm........

Now the biggest disappointment was drivetrain performance. The ride was jerky, more so than any previous model year. I detected mini engine power surges as I drove along and reminded me of an engine trying to compensate for an inadequate air-gas mixture. Not good. Imagine how much something like that is to fix once the warranty runs out. Back at the car dealership I park the car, get out, and shake my head in disappointment.

Did I test drive a lemon? Maybe. While I haven't totally discounted getting a new 2010 Prius my first impressions were shattered by a bad test drive.

The hunt for a new car continues.....

Hiking the Appalachian Trail

I fulfilled another dream- hiking the entire Appalachian Trail in one hiking season. It took me 143 days to walk from Springer Mountain, GA to Mt. Katahdin, ME.

YEEHAW!!!!!!!!

Read more here:

Spokes Trail Journal