I'd like to live abroad someday. I'd want to live somewhere they speak English though. I'm not into learning another language and my French is good enough to order dinner and find the train station but it is far from conversational.
Australia would be cool, but it is so far away from everything and everyone I know, I might feel too isolated. England would be a fun place to live. London is a great city! I could get a flat and start looking for jobs in London. The language barrier would not be there and most of the Brits I know get a kick out of my thick Boston accent.
There are plenty of sales jobs in London and I could probably eke out a living somehow. Maybe I could open a chain of "All American Hot Dog Trucks" and create some jobs in London! The cuisine would be an improvement!
London Calling
Automatic Guided Carts for Hot Dogs?
When I went looking for automatic guided carts, I was hoping I'd find one for hot dogs. I could just imagine having a hot dog cart that went where it needed to go on its own. How cool would that be?
Alas, there are no automatic guided carts for hot dogs at JervisWebb.com. I couldn't find them anywhere!
What I did find is a whole lot of cool Automatic Guided Vehicles for use in industry. They're basically big, robotic vehicles for use in warehousing and manufacturing. Imagine an automatic guided forklift roaming around a warehouse at night moving stuff around so all the things are where they need to be when everyone comes to work in the morning.
These aren't small vehicles either, they'd kick butt in Robot Wars! These suckers can be programmed to move all sorts of things. They could use a few automatic guided forklifts at my local BJ's Wholesale Club. The store manager likes the automatic cash registers because they never call in sick. She'd love automatic guided forklifts whirring around all night putting product away. That way there would be no pallets left out in the morning for her opening crew to deal with!
This all seems so futuristic to me. It's like the precursor to robot slaves in the movies! Imagine the automatic guided forklifts taking over the factory and then THE WORLD!
Cram It
If you've taken a test, you've undoubtedly crammed for a test. I know I have. Cramming is really just studying without the benefit of lots of time. That's why you need to be very efficient when cramming.
You need to take a test to be a real estate agent, real estate broker, insurance, home inspector, appraiser, or stockbroker. Now there's a cool new web app to help you cram called CompuCram.com.
So if you're planning on taking your Real Estate Test to be a Realtor, you can go to CompuCram and download your state specific practice test. It's a great way to cram (study) and it's a heck of a lot easier than dealing with those "old school" test booklets.
Good luck on your test.
Can you get me there?
I live in the burbs of Boston. I know where anything is inside of route 495. I know how to get to most places in the state and in New England in general. I feel pretty comfortable getting in the car and finding my way.
Even travelling state to state is pretty easy. Find the major interstate and GO!
But you need travel directions once you get off the interstate to get where you are going. Depending on what city you are in, you might also want detailed subway maps or live traffic updates.
There is a new travel map site that gives you all this and more! If you're looking for free driving directions, road maps, city maps and traffic updates, then check out PublicRoutes.Com.
For instance: if you were travelling to Seattle and needed a Seattle map, you could get it in a couple of clicks!
Castle Hoppin' in the UK
I've been to London before, in fact I've travelled throughout Europe. The coolest thing about Europe is the old-sometimes even ancient architecture. I have always loved castles and I made it a point to visit as many as possible when I was there.
London was the "easiest" city to visit since there was no language barrier, although I did have a bit of a rough time deciphering directions from a fellow with a thick cockney accent! Since my wife is British, travel to the UK is highly probable in the future. When we go, I'd like to get out in the countryside and see some castles.
Both my wife and I have discussed an extended stay in the UK which would include visits to Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well as England.
Edinburgh Castle in Scotland is built on an inactive volcano and is on my list as it's the classic medieval castle on a hill; it looks like it was carved right out of the mountainside. There are hotels in Edinburgh within walking distance of the castle.
About halfway from Edinburgh to Glasgow is Stirling Castle, another medieval classic. If you liked the movie Braveheart, this castle is near one of the battles depicted in the movie. You can spend the day exploring the castle and its grounds before you head on over to your hotel in Glasgow.
On to Wales where Cardiff Castle in the center of Wale's capital city cuts an impressive image.
Another nearby marvel is Caernarfon Castle which was at one time a mini walled in town.
Both these beauties can be easily reached from any number of hotels in Cardiff.
There are also a ton of lesser known castles that are too numerous to mention here, not to mention the fact I didn't touch on Ireland! I can't wait to go castle hoppin' in the UK!
Incorporating Your Hot Dog Business
THIS POST IS SPONSORED
Having your business set up as a corporation has its advantages. Incorporating helps protect you from lawsuits, gives you increased access to credit, has tax advantages and many other benefits.
Setting up a corporation is as easy as filing all the appropriate paperwork. There are books you can buy for your state that have all the forms and step by step instructions. With a little browsing around on your state's website, you can probably figure it out for yourself.
Or, you could be smart about it! Sometimes its better to have someone else do the work. I hate paperwork and I am happy to have someone else take care of it for me. Incparadise.com is a company that handles all the paperwork necessary for incorporating in all 50 States.
They'll even handle all the other mundane tasks involved with running your corporation and being in compliance with applicable state laws. Plus you can use them for mail forwarding and as a Registered Agent for your corporation.
Any company that makes life easier is always a welcome find.
If you like incorporating yourself, Incparadise.com also offers an opportunity to get into the business of incorporating other companies.
So if you want to incorporate your business, give Incparadise.com a look. Concentrate on the core of your business and let them handle the paperwork.
Spooky Stuff
THIS POST IS SPONSORED
All the talk about the new 1408 Movie with John Cusak got me thinking about a spooky event from my past.
I have always believed in ghosts. I have a friend who lives in a haunted house. The house is over 150 years old and was built from old granite salvaged from a prison. They are always hearing strange noises throughout the house. They hear footsteps going up to the third floor sometimes and the sound of keys in the door to the attic.
The story is that a little girl who lived in the house back in the 1920's drowned when she was 8 or 9 years old. There is a drawing she made in a closet on the third floor. They believe her spirit walks in the house and travels to the third floor attic room that was once her playroom. They've never actually seen anything, but as I said, they often hear noises.
I was at this house once about ten years ago just after my friend and his family moved in. He and his wife were giving me the tour and telling me about the house's history as we entered his son's bedroom. Once we were in his son's room (he was 7 at the time) we heard the sound of the keys rattling on the third floor. We all got freaked out and they started to tell me the story of the little girl.
As they told the story, the sound of the keys stopped and we thought we heard footsteps on the attic stairs. All of a sudden, a large transformer robot on a shelf in their son's room flew off the shelf as if it had been swept off by an invisible hand!
I couldn't wait to get out of that room! I couldn't believe what was happening. I told my friend and his wife I wouldn't have the balls to live there. Since then they've had numerous similar "encounters" and they still hear the keys and footsteps on a regular basis. They have been featured in several "haunted house" magazine and newspaper features over the past ten years. Their son, who just graduated high school and is off to college in the fall, always thought it was cool to have their very own ghost!
I've been back to their house many times in the past ten years for parties and such, but I've never heard or seen anything like that first time again. Even so, I for one wouldn't be able to live in a place like that!
Now this is a creepy story, but not as creepy as the 1408 Movie looks.
You can watch the trailer here:
YIKES!
The Police are back!
THIS POST IS SPONSORED
If you grew up in the 80's, you listened to the Police. They were everywhere on the airwaves and they were a truly global act. I happened to like the Police quite a bit in those days, particularly the earlier stuff.
The tracks on the new double police cd are listed below, I am a "disc one" type of Police fan. I saw them three times live back in the day. Once was in a smallish club venue before their first album (remember "albums?") really took off. Another time was in the Cape Cod Colesium- a general admission venue that seated about 12,000. The last time was in old Foxboro Stadium with 65,000 other Police Fans. The first two concerts were pretty cool, the stadium one sucked, I was at the opposite end of the stadium from the stage and it just wasn't intimate enough for my tastes.
I had all the Police albums but my album collection has been gone for a long time. So I have no Police music in my collection anymore. It would be cool if the PayPerPost folks could send me a free police cd for writing this post! If they did, they'd be hooking up a Policeless hotdogman.
The Police are an act I'd go see on a reuinion tour if I could get good seats. My days of sitting in the cheap seats are over-its good seats or "see the movie" for me!
If you like the Police, get the police cd
or put it on your wish list.
The Police
Track Listings
Disc: 1
1. Fallout
2. Can't Stand Losing You
3. Next to You
4. Roxanne
5. Truth Hits Everybody
6. Hole in My Life
7. So Lonely
8. Message in a Bottle
9. Reggatta de Blanc
10. Bring on the Night
11. Walking on the Moon
12. Don't Stand So Close to Me
13. Driven to Tears
14. Canary in a Coalmine
Disc: 2
1. Do Do Do de da da Da
2. Voices Inside My Head
3. Invisible Sun
4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
5. Spirits in the Material World
6. Demolition Man
7. Every Breath You Take
8. Synchronicity I
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Walking in Your Footsteps
11. Synchronicity II
12. King of Pain
13. Murder by Numbers
14. Tea in the Sahara
Disclosure Policy
This policy is valid from 19 May 2007
This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact hotdogman@thehotdogtruck.com.
This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.
The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.
The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.
To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org
All that being said, its MY BLOG and I'll write what I damn well please!
Parenting Teens
THIS IS A SPONSORED POST
As you know I have five kids. I have one teenager now and will eventually have FOUR at the same time!
I am studying for my Master's Degree in Education and I will eventually be teaching teens, so I try to figure out as much about them as possible. I am fortunate to have experience coaching (younger)teens and I have a good rapport with them.
It is not always so easy with your own. The natural rebelliousness of teenagers can often times turn the parent/child relationship into an adversarial one. It is important for parents to be aware of what your kids are involved in, who their friends are and where they are at all times. Too many tragedies occur to teens who don't have the proper guidance, discipline and adult role models.
Unfortunately, even the most well intentioned parents can lose control. Teens can suffer from a variety of problems regardless of the quality of the parents. Finding good resources to help you in dealing with your teen is important, especially if you are the parent of a troubled teen. Parenting Teens is a great website with all sorts of resources for parents of troubled teens. Even if your teenager is well adjusted and "normal" its a good idea to flip through this site so you can recognize warning signs of trouble.
For parents who are losing control of their teen, there is a pretty extensive behavior modification program for troubled teens.
While no one source can offer all the answers for raising teens, a site like Parenting Teens is a good resource to have in your "library."
If you are the parent of a troubled teen, check the site out or give them a call.
Going to Amsterdam, again!
The first time I went to Amsterdam, I was 16 years old and I went with my parents. We were visiting friends who lived in the Hague and we travelled all over Europe by car with them. Amsterdam was a cool place and my friend and I discovered a few "coffee shops" that served more than coffee (if you know what I mean). We went to many of the art museums and cultural attractions in Amsterdam then, but we did not get to see some of the more "grown-up attractions."
Amsterdam is a city that leaves you wanting more, so I went back twice since that first trip. The last time I went to Amsterdam I stayed here. I have yet to got to Amsterdam with my lovely bride, but we're looking to go next year sometime sans children.
One of the good things about Amsterdam is its people. There are folks from all over the world there and the natives are very friendly. They are also eager to speak English-unlike some other European countries- so communicating is relatively easy. There are a lot of art museums in Amsterdam worth seeing and its a fun party city.
Amsterdam has a wide variety of places to stay and its not too expensive. Can't wait to go back!
Brothers in Law
I have two brother-in-laws, known affectionately as "Snapperhead" and "Zipperhead." They are twins.
"Snapperhead" lives locally and is constantly at our house doing his laundry, drinking MY beer and generally just hanging out. He's between girlfriends now so we are seeing more of him. When he has a girlfriend we don't see him for months at a time-any ladies out there take note HE'S AVAILABLE. I kid him a lot but he does help with babysitting so we try to appease him without letting him get too comfortable.
"Zipperhead" is another story. He's the bohemian of the family. I've never known him to hold a steady job (until now-more on that in a bit). He basically travels the world, working a bit here and there to earn enough to get to his next stop. Every time I see him, he's got a new beauty on his arm and a ton of interesting stories. He'll magically appear at a summer barbecue then disappear for months on end. The occasional postcard is the only clue to his whereabouts. He's either the most worldly hippy on the planet or a CIA spy. All the men in our family pretty much hate him because we want to live his lifestyle!
Along the line over the past few years "Zipperhead" became a gourmet chef. He's currently working at a swanky restaurant in Hawaii, dating a gorgeous woman who breeds and brokers racehorses internationally and hitting the beautiful beaches of Hawaii every day. Now everyone in the family hates him!
This situation does have positive implications for the Hot Dog Man and his lovely bride. We now have an extra excuse to go to Hawaii and, according to my wife, free lodging and free gourmet meals. Having seen some of "Zipperhead's" past abodes, I think I might opt for something a little more luxurious, like these big island hawaii luxury homes. If I drop the dime to go to Hawaii, I want to go to Hawaii in STYLE!
Whether or not we make it to Hawaii while "Zipperhead" lives there or not, its definitely on our vacation list.
Stuck for Recipe ideas?
If you are stuck for a unique idea for whipping up a nice meal or dessert, there are thousands of free recipes on Cookingspot.com. You can search for recipes by ingredients, recipe name and a variety of categories.
It's nice to be able to go online, enter the items in the pantry and have a few options given to you.
Now if I could only get my wife to cook.....
