It was early September 2010. At over 225 pounds and sporting a size 40 waist, I decided it was time to make a change. After all, at 46-years old, I wasn't getting any younger. In order to hold myself accountable to my desire to get fit and lose weight, I went public with my goals. I wrote about the changes I would be making extensively on this blog. My first entry was posted 9/14/10. By... Continue Reading

I recently enjoyed a meal with my daughter at Hu Hot Mongolian Grill in Fort Collins. It's our favorite place to enjoy build-your-own stir fry. Very tasty. As we were leaving the table, I heard my name called out. "Joel"... I turned around to a gentlemen looking at me. I didn't recognize him so I am scanning the recesses of my brain very rapidly to try to recall where I know him from. As it... Continue Reading

(Written by guest contributor Fletcher Groeneman) Last time we discussed the first step in the process of branding, "know yourself." This time I would like to build on that foundation. If you feel you have a solid idea of what you or your product wants to become, it is time to learn how to best present it. While it's true you may have a great product, every product has its weaknesses. The good news is... Continue Reading

I've been a fan of The Panera Bread Company for years. They have many tasty menu items that I enjoy. But this winter they introduced a Chicken Bacon Dijon sandwich that quickly became my new favorite. It's a grilled chicken panini with bacon and a sweet honey Dijon dressing. Add a bowl of chicken noodle soup to the deal and I'm a happy man. I walked into the restaurant this week, my appetite anticipating a... Continue Reading

Before we left Oklahoma, we used to eat at Moe's, a tex-mex fast food joint. It was pretty good. I especially liked the way they trained their staff to yell out "Welcome to Moe's!' every time someone walked in the front door. It made for a friendly environment where they recognized every customer on every visit. As a sidebar, Moe's only played music featuring dead musicians in their restaurant. Interesting... But when we moved to... Continue Reading

I've been home from Kauai long enough to really begin missing it. The island and resort were so beautiful. It was difficult to come home. We spent the week at the Kauai Marriott Resort and Beach Club in Lihue. It was a top-notch resort with gorgeous surroundings, an enormous swimming pool and a nice beach tucked away in Kalapaki Bay. Palm trees, tropical breezes and the sounds of crashing surf... ah... Continue Reading

(This entry is somewhat unique in that I am composing it entirely on my T-Mobile Sidekick. I wrote about this device a few weeks back and have been very pleased with it so far. You can search my blog to find out more.) We left Boulder at 11 am and set course for Beaver Creek, a ski resort nestled a couple hour's drive into the Rockies. Once you hit I-70 going west into the mountains... Continue Reading

Some recommended links if you have nothing better to do: Top Grossing Movies of All Time - as of this writing, The Passion of Christ is at #23 A Tasty Snack Food TV Game Show fun The Word Spy - just what IS a metrosexual anyhow? "Use the Force, Luke" Continue Reading

A few interesting links for casual viewing... Spongebob Arena - All things spongy, yellow and funny GoldNCrackle Bread - A surprisingly tasty treat! The Amazing Send Me a Dollar Web Site - You can look, but don't touch. If you want to send someone money, it should be me. The Fawlty Towers Multimedia Page - the funniest British comedy... ever. The Movie Spoiler - why pay when you can read the whole story line here? Continue Reading

We left Philadelphia early this morning and jumped on the highway towards Hershey, Pennsylvania. The kids have been looking forward to our visit to Chocolate World for the whole trip, so the anticipation had been building. Hershey's Chocolate World was just plain fun. Pulling into the parking lot gives you the feeling of, "Uh oh, there goes the diet!" The first thing we did was check out the free Chocolate Tour Ride, a Disney-style track... Continue Reading

It was another walk in the footsteps of our Founding Fathers. The city of Philadelphia is where the Declaration of Independence was composed and signed. We can trace much of that which makes America great to the heart of this old city. We started the day by hopping a bus downtown. If I had known how crowded the bus would have been, I think we would have taken a cab. Anyhow, we arrived downtown and... Continue Reading

We had a horrible night at the Quality Inn in Lyndhurst, NJ. It was supposed to be a non-smoking room, but the odor was there just the same. I went to the front desk and they gave me an ionizer to use in the room. We gave it a shot, but it didn't do the trick and the odor was giving Mary a headache. It was late and the kids were already falling asleep, so... Continue Reading

Our last day and we've really got nothing left that we want to do. We considered going to Colorado to see the sand dunes near Alamosa, but it was over 1.5 hours away and it was going to be hot. So we opted to have lunch in town and play it by ear. But first, we stopped at the Red River Candy Mountain Fudge shop. As you may recall from yesterday's entry, the manager asked... Continue Reading

Perhaps I should change the category title to "the not-so-incredible, rather-ordinary, fat and lazy mayor". That's the kind of week it has been. With the server problems I've been experiencing, I have not had the time nor the drive to exercise. On top of that, I am enjoying large portions of tasty food. So, I'll probably weigh next Monday and we'll see how much damage I have done. I thought I'd make myself accountable by... Continue Reading