Life and the things that we encounter

New CDR Video

2009-02-11T11:49:00.001-08:00

Life really has been beating my free time up lately, but I should be around more now that certain things have quieted down. Carolina Designs recently held a drawing for a free weeks vacation and I was asked to film this drawing. Here is the video that I did:

Google Chrome

2008-09-03T08:39:00.001-07:00

Google has entered the browser market with their "Chrome" browser. You can download it here. I have only had a short time to test drive it, but so far I can say that it is definitely faster than both IE8 and Firefox with respect to starting up. of course, in Firefox's defense i do have quite a few addons.

It also provides quite a lot of real estate for the actual site content and its home page feature, where it provides you with a thumbnail version of your most recently visited sites, is a nifty addition. More testing to come.

Been a while...

2008-09-03T08:33:00.001-07:00

Yes it certainly has been a while since I posted on this blog. Few things have happened over the last few months; some good, some bad and some not so easily categorized.

Stalker Kitty

2008-07-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

While trying to get some work done "Precious", Shawna's little kitty cat, decided to stalk me. It was pretty hilarious. She would duck down and try to get me over the laptop cover when I wasn't looking. First time I saw her like this she scared the hell outta me.
I glanced up and only saw eyes and fur.

The people you meet...

2008-07-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy to have received this gift called life. I've already met some people that have changed my life, accepted me for who I am and would not try to change me and those that challenge me at every turn.
Some of these people are my friends and in being my friends are my family. I know they will be there for me no matter what happens. Some of these people are blood relatives and honestly I've got few of those, but its the people that you don't know; the strangers who give you that smile, that look of hello or perhaps sitting down from you at the bar or restaurant, they laugh at the same joke on television that you did. These things let us know that we are not alone.
I just think that is one of the beautiful things, that if we took the time to stop and notice perhaps some things in our own lives that might be hampering us, obstructing us and bringing us down would just be put into perspective and simply fall away.
I just wanted to jot down a few thoughts and say thanks to my friends, family and most of all to the strangers that I encounter daily who take the time to stop and toss a smile, a nod or a look of hello my way.

Facebook...

2008-07-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

Facebook has renewed my interest in social networking. Don't get me wrong, I'm still an avid MySpacer, but I've found so many friends from my past on Facebook that its actually caused me to delegate time during my days off to respond to some of my long lost friends.

Phone calls from friends in Trinidad, finding out how life has treated some of my close, and not so close, childhood friends and getting those that want to know how things are with me has encouraged me to logon to my facebook profile more and more. MySpace has always been a way for me to communicate with friends, but those friends have really been restricted to the United States, at least for me. Facebook has allowed me to connect with both subsets of my friend pool; North American and 'Trini' alike. Even Shawna has been raving about the amount of old friends that she has found on facebook.

Only thing that I was wary off when I first joined facebook was the amount of applications that seemed to bombard me on profile login, but even that has come to a stop. I just deny the little apps that friends seem to use and concentrate on keeping in touch. Now if I can just find the time to keep up with my ever growing friend list I'll be set.

Spain wins Euro 2008!!!!

2008-06-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

Spain wins Euro 2008!!! A disappointing match I thought for Germany with a measly 4 shots on goal with 1 on target to Spain's 13 shots on goal 7 on target. I unfortunately could not see the math i had to watch it via a flash commentary on Uefa.com. During the commentary it just seemed that Spain had controlled the match even though Germany had slightly more possession. I was supporting Germany, but was glad that Spain won clinching the cup with an unbeaten trek through the group. Its the way it should have been done by a side that has not won an international trophy in 44years. Stellar performance! Congrats Spain!

George Carlin dies at 71

2008-06-24T19:55:00.000-07:00

My favorite comic died...I was so shocked and still bummed that I had not gotten the chance to see him live. I was introduced to George Carlin's work when I came to the states 9 years ago. Since then I've tried to catch all of his HBO specials when I can and frequently search YouTube for some snippets of his stand up. Some people don't get his humor and never will. My ex-wife hated his humor and thought he was just crass. It's not that he was crass its just you had to "GET IT". He made you think not just laugh. he brought things into perspective; made light of controversial topics in such a way that usually made me say "hey that's true".
I've always loved listening to him reason something out. He had a knack for breaking things down to their simplest forms, that allowed anyone to understand. His command of language was impressive to say the least and it was always a pleasure to hear him expound on some topic that was so racy, no one else would touch it with a ten foot pole.

Here are a few of his quotes from BrainyQuote

"Always do whatever's next."

"By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. "

"Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things. "

"If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little. "

The world has lost a very funny man; you will be missed, George and I will pray to Joe Pesci for you. :)

Two videos I did

2008-06-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

Here are two videos I did for Carolina Designs, showcasing Duck, North Carolina. These are the first videos the company has approved to be placed on YouTube and hopefully won't be the last. These are amateur videos done while driving and edited using Windows Movie Maker.

And here is the other. As I said these were done while driving North and back South through Duck.

Kaplan University halfway through

2008-06-21T20:10:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm halfway through the first semester at Kaplan and it's been pretty run of the mill. I read a lot of reviews concerning this school, some of which spoke about the bad experiences with the financial department. I must say that I've been quite impressed with the level of responsiveness of my academic advisor, financial advisor and even the faculty. I did have a slight hiccup with the financial department; they just didn't seem to get their records in order and kept calling me to find out when I was going to pay my past due bill. I have loans up the "whazoo" to pay for my college education, so needless to say I was a bit perturbed to find out I had any payments pending at all. However, once I got both my advisors involved the situation was cleared up and it was back to smooth sailing and trying to concentrate on my course work and not on how I was going to pay for all this when I am finished.

Still already looking forward to next semester's classes; I'll be starting programming in .NET which is really what I wanted to get out of the way. .NET is really going to help me get where I want to go at work and only help to enhance my resume. Plus I just like programming J

Start of a new week

2008-06-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

Finishing up projects, getting ready for new ones and hopefully getting some good news is what's in store for this week. Will post some beach pictures and videos that I've not had a chance to edit for the blog soon.

Lifeblog post-Mason

2008-06-07T12:16:00.001-07:00

Lifeblog post
Originally uploaded by Vaash

Sat 05-31-2008 18:18 Peek a boo at the house with a new toy. This water contraption thing that Shawna decided to come home with one day...took us 5 mins to put it together and the kids 5 secs to take it apart. I think Peri even ate a piece of it cause its still missing a leg!

2008-06-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

I never felt better being used as a pillow. After a long day at work, I was allowed the privelege of chilling out with my gang at the beach. 3 hours and a few sunburned backs later someone was ready for "night night".

We had a wonderful time. Mason chasing birds with Shawna running after him down the beach, sometimes we just sat together praying the birds would fly back towards us so one of us would not have to go sprinting after "Mae Mae".

Noah playing in the water and working on his improvised and very detailed construction site and of course Peri; who was Soooo tired she could barely hold her head up, but just had to go play with the boys.

Good Times!

Time...where does it go???

2008-05-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

Have not had chance at all in the last few days to post any updates. Since school has really gotten into full swing and work is starting to pick up, has been a scarce commodity.

I will however persevere and make an update post this weekend.

Kaplan University.

2008-05-15T18:16:00.000-07:00

Well, after much deliberation and countless time spent reading reviews and searching for universities that peaked my interest, I decided on Kaplan University. Just had my first day of classes, all online, and I must say I'm very impressed with the professors, the faculty and even the advisers. I've read many a review concerning how bad the classes were and how the professors were not worth their weight in salt, but i have as yet to see any of that. Its still pretty early in the course, but I've got a good feeling so far and look forward to jumping right in. Still reeling from the cost of tuition, but the rewards will far outweigh the costs.

Happy Mother's Day...

2008-05-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers. ~Jewish Proverb

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother. ~Oprah Winfrey

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. ~Honoré de Balzac

Its a funny feeling to be safe in the knowledge that another human being truly loves you unconditionally ~ Richard Furlonge-Rostant :)

Happy Mother's Day, I hope that you all enjoy it.

Hi Mom!

Moving along...

2008-05-07T15:06:00.000-07:00

Good times these last few days except for my feeling very "under the weather", it has been pretty productive. Looking forward to being back to work tomorrow and hopefully back to the gym and some semblance of the routine i should be getting into with school starting on the 14th. Looking forward to some projects in work and hoping to be overwhelmingly busy, which is how I like it.

Me and the hotties!

2008-05-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

We had another great night out on the town Saturday. Said farewell to a great person who is moving on with interesting things in their life, met a few old friends, had a great dinner and heard a great band. I was "big pimpin" according to Jen the whole night by hanging out with these hotties at Kelly's.

The Phone that does it all

2008-04-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

I've had my new phone now for a few months and must say its really been a great buy. The Nokia N95 it does everything that I need it to do and still has features I can use in a jam. Wireless connectivity with a good browser, MP3 capability, great video capture, 5mp camera, ability to read and edit office documents and to top it off its rather durable. Battery life is good and sound quality and bluetooth pairing is excellent. Here is a little video review from YouTube.

It seamlessly uploads to Flickr and I've only had to mess with resetting to factory defaults once; which was my fault entirely. I play around a lot with Themes so every so often some crazy theme I've installed will cause the phone to freeze, but apart form that its been working rather well. It's also coming down a bit in price, but its been well worth the cost.

Kelly's Pub

2008-04-29T20:26:00.001-07:00

Kelly's
Originally uploaded by Vaash

After a long day at work and an even longer, but utterly enjoyable evening in Virginia beach, we had a spontaneous urge to do some dancing and "liming". Shawna and I went out to Kelly's. Great night, band was 90's rock cover. They sounded great and we even had an unexpected guest. More photos and even some videos to follow.

Toni's Surprise party

2008-04-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

Surprise! Toni’s sister, Shawna and her mom, Deborah decided for once to throw a party for Toni that, for once in her life, she would not know about. It took a few years, but after much trial and error they finally pulled it off. We had a great time with the Luau theme that Shawna came up with. Great food, burgers and dogs, some great potato salad, from BJ and Joan , margaritas that I finally learned how to make and of course some wonderful company.
Sitting around watching the sunset and talking about, among other things, how my grandmother used to beat the snot outta me when I was little, but most importantly the differences in parenting between being raised in the Caribbean and raised in North America. Very interesting conversation in which I felt terribly out of place given the company I was in.
It was a great time and although we missed a few people, everyone enjoyed themselves.

Happy Birthday Toni!

Check out more photos here

Well deserved day out...

2008-04-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

Shawna and I decided to spend the day together and among other things ended up visiting the venue of our first date. If you're on the Outer Banks, you definitely want to check out the Town of Manteo. The Waterfront is a great spot and we had a great time walking along and making a day of visiting the shops, especially the coffee shop, and enjoying a great day. There are also festivals, shows and concerts in the park that cater to a smaller and more intimate setting than some of the bigger venues.

It was a great day and I can't wait for summer to get a chance to catch some of the shows, not to mention a chance to get my busy lady out of her routine. :)

About me...

2008-04-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

Better late than never. I was born in Trinidad , the southern most island in the Caribbean. I moved to the U.S. in 1999. I lived in Virginia Beach for 5 years until I met a fellow "Trini" , Pat. She changed my life by giving me information about a job opportunity. That job opportunity was with a company on the Outer Banks called Carolina Designs Realty. In Carolina Designs, I found new friends, some close enough to be like family and an avenue to do what I like. Work on Information Systems.

We work hard and party even harder at Carolina Designs...

I've met some great people here on the Outer Banks, but still miss home and can't wait to return.

HI MOM!

Don't worry I'll keep you company...

2008-04-13T17:38:00.001-07:00

Originally uploaded by Vaash

for the 1hour long drive after some decadent dining. What she doesn't know is that I was passing out right next to her, pretty much the entire way.

Nana's brat

2008-04-13T17:28:00.001-07:00

Nana's brat
Originally uploaded by Vaash

This was actually taken on 12th April 08, I just happened to be walking passed the bathroom and heard a splash. When I peeked around the corner this is what I saw staring back at me. :)

Don't let that beautiful smile, smooth skin, kissable cheeks and hair that's just too wild to be put in in any kind of fashion for long, fool you...this 2ft bundle of joy beats me up and makes me think I actually like it!

Little girl that broke my $700 phone

2008-04-09T14:26:00.001-07:00

Peri
Originally uploaded by Vaash

Yes that's right not only does she have the powers of mind control by using a simple smile, but apparently just using a photo of her is enough to render the most sophisticated technological devices useless!!!

I really wish her hairdresser would just lay off.

The girls in texas

2008-04-08T19:51:00.001-07:00

The girls in texas
Originally uploaded by Vaash

I'm glad that this was the first post on my new blog. I labeled this photo beauty. it was the first thing I thought of when I saw it and the girls featured in this photo remind me of it every time i see them.