Posts from — March 2008

I had to laugh at a quote a friend of mine just emailed me:

“I always give 100% at work:

13% Monday 22% Tuesday 26% Wednesday 35% Thursday 4% Friday”

Certainly all of us have had days when we aren’t giving all that we can give. After a long weekend of play it’s hard to get back into the flow of work.  Consider maximizing your Monday and you will be amazed how better the rest of your week goes.

The other day I was so busy and on the go that I ate out for all three meals. I used to think it was bad when I ate my breakfast standing up in the kitchen, but sadly enough, I ate McDonalds for breakfast and dinner and Whatburger for lunch……Bad Daddy.

."Fix, Close or Sell–(Do one of these things in life and stop complaining)"

"Jack Welch"

Almost three weeks ago I was driving to work and was listening to the radio. I song came on and my head started bobbing and my foot started tapping. In other words, I was jamming. An old favorite of mine was playing and I just couldn’t get enough. I knew that I needed to download it from iTunes as soon as I got in the office.

Pulled into the corporate parking lot, got my briefcase and couldn’t remember the song.

Couldn’t remember the tune, the beat, the words, nothing……

I sometimes call my work voicemail and leave a message if I want to remember something, but this song was so good how could I forget.

Easy, It’s the parent factor.

Ever since having kids I easily forget some of the simplest things…..

This memory lapse bothered me the rest of the day and moved into weeks.

This really started to bother me because since it was an older song, chances were that it would be a long time before I hear it again.

Finnally………after three weeks I heard it again last night.

Young MC—Bust A Move

Thank God!!!!!

Now if I can just remember my password for iTunes.

"Blamestorming: Sitting around in a group discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed. and who was responsible."

"Author Unknown"

To borrow from African American Dad, I am

“One good black father among many”

Every once in a while I run across another good Black Father and it is quite refreshing to see and experience. I have always felt that a key to raising our sons starts with an involved father to teach and show them how to be men. If we had more black men involved with mentoring, tutoring, and parenting, then our communities will grow and develop. So I call on any man (not necessarily a father) to consider involving themselves with a black male. It could even be a relative, but attempt to do something. Although LL Cool J’s plan below is well intended, it is up to us to raise our sons not for them to come to us for help.

LL Cool J Calls On Young Blacks To Seek Out Father Figures - The Elements

See the results of a Swedish study to further emphasize the need for involvement.

Voice Online :: Black boys need their fathers

So what am I doing?

Starting at home with my two sons, but I do have nephews that need guidance, but they live out of state. They come to Dallas in the summer and we try to spend as much time with them as we can.  Beyond that, I need to get with a local school and start tutoring.  That’s a promise to myself to do my part.

Sharp Dressed Family

Originally uploaded by Ed Bacchus
This is my favorite picture of my dad, grandfather, grandmother, aunt and uncle. There is something special about black and white family portraits. Especially when they have their “Sunday Best” on and take it in their own home.

I admin a flickr group called Black Families. The strength of the black family is important to me and I love to see families posing together.

The wife has finally given me the ok to jump into the digital age. We have been spending time at a friend’s house who has a nice HD TV and Mommy Bacchus has finally seen what all the fuss has been about. I have had plans to start getting some for the house, but not until next holiday season. Fortunately for me, she has loved watching TV in HD and wants to contribute funds to the cause. So off I went to the internet and did my research. Talked to some friends and a good buddy developed the below list that I found very helpful.

• Darkest blacks possible
• 120 Hz is better
• DLP is the best for the price
• LCD is the best picture
• Plasma has a better picture but they’re about to be discontinued because of problems
• Mitsubishi probably the best big screen maker
• Measure how far your seat is from where the TV will be and get that distance away at the store
• Go HDMI – go digital its worth it but don’t buy expensive cables because digital is always digital – a 1 is a 1 and a 0 is a 0
• Fry’s is a good place to shop – online is a better place to buy
• Go with the picture you like the most and pay few hundred extra if you have to. You don’t want to be stuck with a TV you’re not happy with a year down the road and you could’ve spent just a few extra bucks.
• The TV will look bigger in your house than it does on the show room – trust me on that one

We were limited in the size that we could get, but got the best we could afford and fit in the space we planned for it. MB had been talking with her friends and decided that because of the two active kids we have, she made one hard requirement.

The Ultimate Mommy Toy: HD Flat Screen TV Wall Mounting

Because a couple of MB’s friends had children involved with some type of accident with the flat screen TV, she insisted that the TV be mounted on the wall. Initially it didn’t bother me because the mounts I saw in the stores cost a $100-200, but the real problem was the cost to get someone to actually do the mounting for you. Wow!!!! It was almost the cost I paid to buy the TV. I bit the bullet and got someone reputable. MB knows that I am good for finding a friend of a friend, but mounting a TV is not something you want to trust to just anyone. I decided to go with Circuit City Firedog service, and hopefully everything will go well.

Now What???

Since we needed the TV mounted and the existing TV stand would have to be taken down, MB thought that I would just leave the TV in the box and wait until the installers came. Nope, not gonna happen. I had the TV out of the box within 30 minutes after we got it in the house. Put it in the bedroom for the time being and watched my first show on fuzzing regualr TV. Oh, did I forget to mention that I now need to get a new satellite box that will bring the HD signal to the new TV. Oh, and you need to purchase HD wiring, Oh, and you need HD package for your satellite service……..IEverytime I looked up there was another “Oh.” I just hope everything will turn out ok. If anyone can think of anything that I missed, please share what you know.

"Life is not fair–Get used to it"

"Bill Gates"

Wife and I were out driving yesterday and saw this SUV driving by. Took these with my camera phone, so please excuse the poor quality.

It was really windy and couldn’t believe the driver didn’t stop to tie down his load better.

He must have been in a rush because you will notice he didn’t even take the sheets off the bed.

Yes everyone, that is a Lexus SUV.

After they noticed me leaning out the window, they slowed down so we couldn’t get any pictures. I can only hope that we embarrassed the enough to fix it before anyone got hurt.