First up is the Studio One 19 PC.  This is honestly one of the best ideas I’ve seen from Dell in some time.  The all-in-one desktop can be configured with everything from an Intel Celeron to a Core 2 Quad Core processor.  That will allow for a variety of entry points, from the kitchen counter recipe holder to the executive workhorse.  While you can check out the variety of other specs on Dell’s Website, the one bullet point that I want to focus on is the multi-touch display.  This optional feature turns the Studio One line into a true competitor with the iMac and offers a feature that very few other brands have done successfully.

The second offering is the Dell Adamo.  Dell is marketing this as the world’s thinnest laptop, a direct challege to the MacBook Air.  I’m not that impressed with thin, especially when you give up the optical drive; one of the most important features in a laptop!  The pricetag on this one is going to make it a hard sell when there are netbooks on the market that compete in almost every area.

Mental Note: I will join in and play video games with my son.. only because I personally know how much fun they can be and want to share that with him.

I should be getting  up at 6:30 to be out the door by 7:15.  An hour drive each way to/from work.  I’m at work till 6 if I’m lucky so I’m away from home for around 11-12 hours a day.

The bright part of my day is when I get home to my wonderful wife and son.  Coming home is always a joy, even on the days I’m worn out from work and the drive home.

So… new look on the blog.  New mission for myself is to try and blog a few times a week.  We’ll see how it goes.

I’ve been feeling a bit ill lately because of  worrying all the time.  Every time I start to think about how much it costs me to get to work each month, or retirement, or our mortgage… I feel a bit green.

Well, I have to say… over the past several days I’ve felt pretty good.  Gas prices have dipped so I’m not worrying about that as much.  My company has a great matching program for our 401K, so I shouldn’t be worrying about that so much.  And our mortgage… our mort… *gurgle*… man I need a tums.  I love our house, but I can’t WAIT till we can sell it and move into something… less!

Nanny Lou on her 96th birthday last year.

My Nanny Lou passed away this morning.  My mom was by her side and was able to comfort her as she took her last breath.  She’s at rest and in a much happier place now.

Sometimes God is very “in your face” and sometimes, like today, he does the small things that not only amaze me but that helped comfort me.  Last night I read the Facebook status of a high school friend.   Her grandmother was in hospice care and I sent her a quick note telling her that she was in my thoughts.  In the process, it got me thinking about Nanny Lou, and praying  for her as well.  While Nanny Lou has been on my thoughts almost every day, I have to admit that I probably would not have been thinking about her last night if it were not for my friend’s Facebook status.  This morning, both of our grandmothers went on to heaven.  I am so glad that I was able to stop and pray for my grandmother last night.   Last night she told my mom “I want to go home”.  Today, she is there.  Praise God.

Well, today I have a whole new craving that will be much harder to satiate.  Carmine’s Home Made Devil Crab and Steak Milanesa are so tasty, but unfortunately the restaurant is in Tampa.  That’s a bit of a drive for dinner.  Thinking about all this good food (notice I said good, not healthy) is going to be bad for my diet.

I’ve lost some weight recently and while it isn’t much, I love watching the scale go down.  Heck, I love that the scale (digital) actually registers my weight instead of an error code like it used to.  So my overall goal is to loose 100 pounds, and I’ve dropped somewhere around 15 since my last visit to the doctor’s office.  My short term goal is the 30 pound mark.  The best inspiration is to look at my photos in the gallery and know that the change is going to be visually apparent soon.

At our new church, I’ve hung back a bit to see what I would really enjoy doing and where I can be the most use. I’ve purposely stayed away from the soundboard, and I’ve just started getting involved in the video group. We record the sermons and also put together videos to show during the service. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.

As part of the process, we’re putting the videos online. Here’s a test video I wanted to try out. Not sure if we’re going to use this service, but we’ll be doing something like this: