March 17, 2011 - Beautiful Day n' stuff...

If yesterday was beautiful, today was absolutely gorgeous! From morning until even now, the temperatures around these parts are warm enough for even late spring. The sun was shining all day and it felt good to be outside. As an added bonus, i had that conference today, so i not only got to sleep in a couple of extra hours, but I also was home around the time I’m usually finished with work. It’s one of the things I like about the four seasons: going through a rough winter makes you appreciate the spring and summer even more.

Insurance Windfall

Once upon a time I sold insurance for Prudential. It was right after I left Citibank and wasn’t sure what I was going to do with my life. Though the job only lasted six months, I did learn a lot about the insurance business and I’m still baffled by it.

You see, in October I bought a new car from my buddy Jorge. He had decided to return to live in his country (he’s from Chile) and the only thing holding him back was selling his car, a beautiful 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse. To make a long story short, he ended up selling it to me at a great price. I ended up having to carry insurance on two cars for almost four months and when I finally sold my Sentra, I thought I’d be saving more on my insurance, which renews next Monday.


My Eclipse

I had planned on shopping around just to see what other companies were offering. I’ve been with Progressive for many years, but my premiums have been steadily rising with each six-month renewal. After shopping at only two other companies, which were both cheaper than what I’m now paying, I found that Geico was a little more than half of what I was paying. That’s more than $50 a month cheaper! Yahoo! Maybe my luck’s starting to change…

Fit to Print….Nah!



A long time ago I used to do a series on AC called “News That’s Fit to Print.” The idea stemmed from my very first article, a synopsis of my thesis called Modern Day Mass Media: How the Few Decide for the Whole. The whole point of that paper was the fact that there are a select group of people who decide what becomes news and thereby control the collective mindset of the country. It’s a long one, but well worth the read.

Anyway, the series I did was of newspaper articles I had read that I believed deserved some attention. They were usually stories about local heroes or issues that I feel strongly about, like drunk and reckless driving. In fact, some of them were pretty controversial and got some pretty heated comments. A few months ago I cancelled my newspaper delivery for both monetary reasons and the fact that I had so little time to read it. This afternoon I bought today’s edition of Newsday, our local paper, and I remembered why I stopped taking interest in the news. Here were some of the stories covered today:

- “Nuclear ground zero,” about the potential nuclear disaster awaiting Japan.

- A local hate crime murder of a gay man.

- Big time layoffs in Nassau County due to fiscal woes.

These were just a couple of the bad news items that got major coverage in today’s news. Like they say, ignorance is bliss! I’m so tired of hearing nothing but bad news every single day. For once I’d like to see headlines like:

“Stock Market reaches all time high”

“Gas prices dropping”

“Peace in the Middle East”

“Rejoicing in the streets: recession’s over”

Ah, to dream! Then, maybe I’ll start reading the news again.

Keys to Life



What the heck do I know about the keys to a wonderful life? Actually, probably more than I would admit, only I don’t really seem to follow them enough to change my own for a happier, healthier one! Anyway, I just published the latest in my series of “Keys to Life” articles. They’re adapted from an essay by gay essayist Michael Thomas Ford, and I think that they all make for some really sound advice. The one I published tonight was the fourth one, “Make a Difference,” and I’ve got six more to go. Here are the links to the pieces so far:

#1 – Live in the Present

#2 – Age Gracefully

#3 – Cultivate Friendships

#4 – Make a Difference

Stay tuned for more on the way…

Well it’s late and I need to get some shut eye. I wish it was Friday already…I need to dance! Have a great day and thanks for reading!