Today was a remarkably busy day, but it was also one of those days where everything seems to run nice and smoothly. Early this morning, I had a huge list of errands I was supposed to run – to be honest, I thought it would take me all week. But thanks to the power of intelligent planning and a little help from the Internet, I managed to pull off what my wife deemed as impossible. The best thing about it was that I accomplished half of it sitting in a sunny park, with my handy netbook. You gotta love technology! It’s amazing how it can help getting things done, if you know how to use it.

And to think that just a few years ago, I barely used the Internet at all… except to check the occasional funny e-mail I was forwarded by my work colleagues. Well, thanks to my oldest kid, I was finally drawn to the digital world; well, I should say I couldn’t be happier. At first I started doing some casual shopping over at ebay and Amazon, then I got in the habit of paying most of my bills through the Internet, and these days I got in the hang of looking up everything online.

For example, one of the errands I was supposed to attend this morning involved finding a reputable company that could fix my Central Air Conditioning. Not only did I find a great provider for this service, but it took me less than half an hour! And that included research time to check their references and dig up some reviews. If I had to do that the old fashioned way, I would likely have wasted several hours driving around… how’s that for efficiency? Well, if you’re also looking for a good AC company you might want to check out www.servicefirstac.com. They seem like one of the best options around!

Sometimes I cannot help but wonder, why so many people out there have such a strong prejudice towards Texas. I actually think it’s one of the most interesting states in the good old US, and it’s definitely a place worth visiting. Heck, when I was younger I even mused about getting a piece of Real Estate in the Texas Hill Country, but unfortunately my wife really isn’t a big fan of the friendly state. Still, where most people dream about retiring and moving to Florida, I sometimes wonder what it would be like to end up my days in the southernmost state. If you’re not familiar with Texas, here’s a bit of footage that will likely draw your interest:

Don’t you just love those open Colorado landscapes? When it comes to natural scenarios in the USA, I think Texas is the place to be. Sure, many people don’t really appreciate the whole wilderness look, but I find it really soothing. I really must plan some vacations over there, one of these days. I guess there’s some cowboy blood in me, since I really feel at home in this kind of scenario. It must be really something, getting on a horse and just getting lost in the vast Texan grounds for a couple of days!

Every year in late December, I have this tradition of stumbling all over the place in a shopping frenzy / postcard writing madness. Well, this year I’ve decided to choose otherwise, and try enjoying a relaxed holiday season for a change. So even though we’re three months away from Christmas, I’ve already ordered my christmas cards, which I’ll be leisurely writing and annotating in the upcoming weeks. Also, I’ve already started looking for Chrismtas presents online, so I can get my friends and family great presents at low prices.

And you know what I’m going to write on those Christmas Cards? “This year I thought of you earlier, and prepared your Christmas by anticipation… so now I can relax and laugh at you while you’re going on shopping sprees / card scribbling, very much like I used to!”. What? Just because I’m nice it doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy being a little mean on occasion!

Here’s a good idea for anyone who enjoys offering unique presents, but who’s also on a tight budget: custom t-shirts. I think this is particularly a good idea in occasions that require multiple gifts (such as Christmas, which by the way is already looming in the horizon). Why? Because custom t-shirts can get quite cheap, and also because they’re custom – meaning you can use them to convey a nice message, no need for additional holiday cards- and well… they’re t-shirts! As such they’re generally useful and most people will actually wear them, provided they look interesting or funny. Next time you find yourself running in circles trying to figure out a good present, remember this advice… it might just come in handy!

Today I had to endure a little embarrassment. Not much a big deal, or so you might think… but sometimes the smallest details convey the wrongest impression, out there in the business world. Well, to put it simply I met a group of potential customers for lunch – they were referred by a mutual friend – and while the conversation developed rather smoothly, I felt at loss when I had to write them my contact on a napkin. Yup… you’ve guessed right, I’d just run out of business cards.

Since scribbling my contacts on napkins is not something I want to keep doing, I decided to take measures to make sure something like this won’t happen again. So I looked up business cards online in Google, and came across this company which sells good-looking cards for a really competitive price (much lower than what I’m used to pay, at least). Needless to say, I’m going all out and ordering a few thousand business cards, as to make sure I won’t run out anytime soon.

I’m almost ashamed for expressing such a materialistic worldview, but… oh, sometimes how I wish I was rich! Just to think of all the pointless – yet lovely contraptions I’d treat myself with… such as this amazing Massage Chairs, for example! If I was considerably affluent, I’d be quite happy to switch each and every chair in my household for one of those. And even though you might say that’s a capricious thought… well, that’s just because you haven’t tried one of those. You know, it’s not by accident they call it a “human touch” massage chair. It really IS something else, like heaven wrapped up on a leather seat. If you ever get a chance to try one of these, I think you’ll understand what I’m talking about. In the meanwhile, I sit in my regular boring old chair… and dream!

The all-american-est of all sports? Why, from where I stand there’s really not much ground for argument, here: It’s baseball, of course! Now, don’t take me wrong… I’m not in any way opposed to Football (and yes it’s also pretty much an all-american sport), but I think that Baseball is much more of an interesting and soulful sport. Well anyway, ever since I was a kid I was positively hooked into this sport, mostly as a batter. I have a considerable amount of respect for the picther types, but there’s nothing quite like slamming the bat against a speeding baseball. That single moment when you’re in mid swing and you feel the wood connecting with the ball, just before sending it off with a loud, dry bang? Wow, that’s really something magical.

You know, when I was younger it was tremendously difficult to pick up on how to effectively swing a bat. But eventually, I got really good at it – even now I’m very confident in my skills, and seldom do I meet a pitcher that’s capable of posing a real challenge. That’s why I’m thinking about going crazy and getting myself one of those amazingly awesome batting cages for my backyard. I’ll probably dry out my entertainment budget for a few months after buying this, but I think it’ll be worth every cent.

Besides, it’s for a good cause, right? It’s always a good idea to practice sports more often – even more so when it’s a genuinely fun sport such as this one! I’m telling you: if I was younger, I’d seriously consider trying to go professional, I really think I have what I takes… and no, in case you’re wondering this is not some kind of mid-life crisis I’m going through. Those batting cages really aren’t THAT expensive, and it’s definitely worth a whole lot of fun!

In a fast-paced consummerist society such as our own, quite oftentimes the good things in life go by unnoticed – this is actually too bad! Earlier today I was waiting in line at starbucks, and I was forced to endure the endless rants from a bunch of wisecrack teenagers who kept going on about what a boring state Utah is. Apparently, they had been dragged by their family to a cozy deer valley lodging, and as the story went “there was nothing to do but walk and sit around and get bored to death”.

It’s actually funny in a way, how peace of mind is apparently an acquired taste. For those modern age teenagers, going out hiking and just communing with nature is an excruciatingly tedious activity, while for someone such as their older family members (and myself, for that matter), it can be an extremely soothing and relaxing experiece. Truth be told, I can understand their thirst for adventure and novelty, but all the while it’s almost embarassing to hear that kind of told. Oh, this youth…

Life is funny like that: When I was younger, I didn’t really believe in the benefits of health supplements… but then again, I didn’t really need them. These days, I’m starting to feel as though age is unforgiving, and the human body begins to slow down after a while. With that in mind, I find myself looking over products such as nu skin, following recommendations from friends. I’m not really sure how effective these supplements are, but some people I know seem quite happy with it… and it certainly won’t do no harm. Better be safe than sorry, right? Particularly as the mature age settles in.

There are people who think of chocolate as one of life’s greatest pleasures, there are people who don’t care much about chocolate. There are people who think chocolate is good for health, and there are people who think it’s nothing but a source of unneeded sugars. Myself, I’m somewhere in between… I do love having some chocolate, especially if it’s a Gourmet Dark Chocolate that really makes one’s taste buds dance the sweet fandango. Now, if we’re talking just cheap chocolate-y candy… well, that hardly gets me going anymore. In my opinion, chocolate can be a wonderful thing, and it can be good for health provided two things: it’s a great quality chocolate, and it’s eaten with moderation.