NJ Budelis

Hurricane Irene in Princeton

2011-08-31T11:43:00.008-04:00

Our power was restored after almost two days - the partial vacation ended. Actually, while the power was out, we put in lots of time needed to clean up the numerous branches and twigs spread around our property.

There were two very unfortunate deaths in Mercer county:
* one was a Rescue worker who was confirming that no one was trapped in a car submerged on Harrison St near the canal which is about half a mile from our home,
* the other was a landowner who removed a manhole cover hoping to clear water from his flooded property - the large amount of water already rushing down the pipe apparently created a vortex that sucked the man into the sewage pipe.

Here is a view of the stairs and tunnel for passing under the railroad tracks at Princeton Junction train station: http://foureleven.tumblr.com/post/9518080147

What is SMA?

2011-08-26T15:47:00.003-04:00

SMA is Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a genetic disease that occurs in approximately 1 out of every 6,000 kids; it leaves the spine underdeveloped. See A Thousand More by Kristina Budelis, Piotr Malecki and Jeff Rhode.

Tools for Managing and Protecting your PC Files

2011-07-03T09:04:00.004-04:00

There are some great tools available on the web to help you manage and protect the files on your PC or MAC. I discuss aids to using your PC in greater detail at my Joe Budelis Help page. Here, I'll just mention two of the web sites that I recently started using that provide a great service and it's free for their basic offering.

Do you work on more than one computer? If so, wouldn't it be great if files on the two (or more) computers that you work on were kept synched? Well, files on more than one computer are kept synched by DropBox as long as each of the computers is connected to the Internet.

Have you ever lost files cause of a failed hard drive, viruses, trojans, or some other reason? If so, you know that it's important to back up your files. You can set IDrive to back up files on a scheduled basis.

In both cases, you receive a certain amount of space free. The free space can be increased by referring others to these services. In fact, by using the links in the two preceding paragraphs, you will increase the size of my free space.

Joe Budelis wins iPad at 2011 Telarus Agent Conference

2011-03-27T13:11:00.006-04:00

Joe Budelis participated in an educational "team game" at the 2011 Telarus Agent Conference which emphasized some interesting facts about Telecom Carrier Service offerings and built team spirit. The game was played by four teams to be the first part of a selection process for the person to be awarded a newly purchased iPad. Then, a random drawing of those in the winning teams selected Joe Budelis as the winner of the iPad.

And the Snow Melts

2011-02-03T09:51:00.011-05:00

Icicles from snow melting on roof.

Another Snowstorm hit the Northeast!

2011-01-27T18:21:00.010-05:00

Before

and

After

Or

should

it be

Summer

and

Winter

Rome and Florence during a NJ Blizzard

2011-01-23T18:31:00.004-05:00

We left for our Italian vacation on one of the last flights out of Newark before airport operations were seriously hindered by the December 26, 2010 snow storm. Although the weather in Rome and Florence was wintery, we were lucky to get out of the NorthEast USA before many flights were canceled and not to have to shovel and otherwise deal with the major snow storm.
Here is KDB at sunset on one of the small streets of Rome's historic district. There are more photos of our vacation on FLICKR.

Valorie published Why is Hypoglycemia on the Rise?

2010-10-16T14:25:00.003-04:00

After considerable research, Valorie published an article on Hypoglycemia in her Gaia's Pen blog. Whether you know what hypoglycemia is or not, you will likely find this article to be interesting.

Tai Chi Ch'uan (also spelled Taijiquan) Class in Central NJ

2010-08-25T23:57:00.003-04:00

For about two years I've been attending T'ai Chi classes. If you are in the Princeton area and are interested, a new class is starting on September 25 for beginners or those who desire reinforcement in their training. See details at classes in classical Yang Style T’ai Chi Ch’uan.

Another Tree Mangler Hits Princeton

2010-08-17T08:50:00.006-04:00

After quite a dry spell, late yesterday, a heavy thunderstorm hit Princeton. The tree damage observed afterward suggests there were quite a few strong micro bursts. These photos show a tree whose trunk was cleanly severed right into the ground!

Congrats to KDB on her first Blog post at The New Yorker

2010-07-28T13:34:00.002-04:00

It's great to see that KDB's first blog post at The New Yorker has been published: "On and Off the Walls: Suburban Knights".

Summer Recipes by Local Executive Chef

2010-06-18T10:07:00.002-04:00

Valorie has published summer recipes that have recently been presented by local Executive Chef, Christopher Albrecht. To see what Chef Albrecht presented using produce locally grown in the northeast USA, see Gaia's Pen.

What is your Best Internet Access Option?

2010-05-11T17:52:00.002-04:00

On Friday, May 21, Joe Budelis will again give a presentation to help one explore and find the best Internet Solution Provider for their location. This presentation on Internet Access will be given at the Brookdale Computer Users Group May meeting and details are available at "Comparison of Internet Access Options such as Satellite, DSL, Cable, FIOS, T1, EoC, 3G, 4G".

Some material on this topic is available at "Comparison of Cable, DSL and T1 Broadband Internet Access Options."

Cherry Blossoms in Princeton

2010-05-06T20:06:00.004-04:00

The spring brings beautiful blossoms on the Japanese Cherry tree in front of our home. Here is a photo of Valorie framed by the cherry blossoms draping down from the tree.

Comparison of Internet Access Options to be presented at Trenton Computer Festival

2010-04-18T19:14:00.004-04:00

Joe Budelis, owner of Persimmon Telecommunications, will present "Comparison of Internet Access Options - How to Compare, Shop for, and Choose the best Internet Access option" at TCF-2010, the Trenton Computer Festival in Trenton, NJ. Options such as DSL, cable, FiOS, T1, DS3, OC3, Fast Ethernet OCx, and GigE will be compared. The PowerPoint slide presentation is available at How to Compare, Shop for, and Choose the best Internet Access option.

More info is available at TCF Talks, Forums, and Exhibitions.

Plucking of White Pine from our Home

2010-03-19T18:19:00.009-04:00

Since their climbers decided it wasn't safe to do otherwise, Well's Tree Service used a crane to remove the white pine from our house. At the top of the tree there were two leads. Here you see one of those leads being carried from over our home. I estimate it's less than 1/8th of the tree. However, it in itself is as large as a good sized tree!

Below is one of the last pieces being carried away from our home.

Saved By a Tree

2010-03-14T11:58:00.010-04:00

Now that it's light out, I see that the damage to our home by the white pine would have likely been worse except that it's fall was hindered by a black locust tree on the other side of the house. If the tree people were to just cut off the top of the pine tree, the weight of the pine could move it further into the house. The tree company says their approach tomorrow will be to trim everything they can to reduce the weight before they cut the locust support.

You can see the tree guy on the roof. He's installing a tarp to provide temporary protection from the rain.

The reason that the pine tree went down is that white pines have shallow roots and the wind was able to pull the roots out:

Here's a closeup of where it was uprooted:

Rain, Wind and a 130 foot Pine Tree

2010-03-13T18:48:00.004-05:00

This is the 130 foot pine tree that had stood 10 feet from our home. It had seemed sturdier than trees still standing around it!

Snow Blizzard in Princeton, NJ

2010-02-17T08:26:00.006-05:00

The holly tree in the above view out of Val's second floor office window on February 10 is leaning, not because of the wind, but because of the weight of the snow on it's branches. The next day, with much of the snow removed, it looked as shown below.

KDB to Israel and Ski Slopes

2010-02-10T17:49:00.005-05:00

This winter break, KDB joined a college trip to Israel. She really enjoyed the introduction to the country given by the tour. She also made good use of her new Canon 5 d Mark II professional camera. Here's one of the photos that she took in Israel with the new camera: Trees.

Now that she's back in New York, she's joined the ski club and, on many weekends, is skiing slopes in the Northeast US. This week she has actually skied in Manhattan's Central Park.

Japanese Maple in Princeton

2009-12-06T16:50:00.004-05:00

I've cared for this Japanese Maple since it was about a foot tall. It started, without my help, between our driveway and our Japanese Cherry tree. For many years, the tree expert has been saying that the Japanese Cherry is ill and should be removed. However, we still enjoy its cherry blossoms every spring. I'm using it as an anchor to train the Maple away from the driveway. Presumably, because the Cherry shades the Maple, the Maple has tried to grow at a substantial angle into the space above the driveway. The Maple shows spectacular fall colors. The green and yellow just behind it are leaves on the Cherry. And, the red blotches in the upper left by the house are berries on one of our Holly trees. This photo was taken in November, Today, being December, most all leaves have fallen and I just about finished leaf raking for the year.

Are your Photos Backed Up?

2009-12-01T10:36:00.003-05:00

Recently, our laptop hard drive had to be replaced. Luckily, we regularly back up all important data on our PCs. If you aren't, you should. We use Mozy. which is an on-line backup service offered free for 2 GB of data. For additional storage, you can pay or you can refer others as I'm doing here. This and other tips are discussed on my home page at Joe Budelis Home Page Tips & Money Saving ideas.

Diet & Weight Loss Articles

2009-11-24T14:00:00.002-05:00

Since my last posting, Valorie's posted several interesting articles on her Gaias Pen blog, for example, Transition Diet: Nourish Earth and Weight Loss Tools That Really Work.

Protection against H1N1 Swine Flu

2009-09-11T11:54:00.004-04:00

Valorie just published an article Ten Foods to Optimize Immunity in her Gaias Pen blog. It and other articles in her blog give useful information that can help you protect yourself for the coming flu season.

Princeton Wildflowers

2009-08-23T21:16:00.007-04:00

A week ago Sunday, we joined Steve Hiltner, the Natural Resources Manager of Friends of Princeton Open Space. on one of his Princeton Wildflower tours. This one was along the Delaware and Raritan Canal towpath. It was quite interesting to learn a bit about flowers, trees, and other plants that we have passed by often, most of the time not even noticing them. The flower in the photo is jewelweed. Steve demonstrated how, via coiled springs, the seed pods pop when touched - a great demo for kids. After the walk, I did some more reading and found the seeds are edible and the juice of the jewelweed's stem is known to be useful as a skin remedy. Rubbing it on the affected spot stops mosquito bite itching, relieves wasp and bee stings, and is also said to be good for such affections as warts, bruises, fungal skin infections, nettle stings, minor burns, cuts, eczema, acne, sores, and any skin irritations. See Jewelweed (Impatiens species) and other articles on the web for more info.

Stars over Princeton

2009-08-16T16:38:00.005-04:00

Friday night, Val and I observed stars over Princeton at the AAAP Simpson Observatory. Through the telescopes, among others, we saw Vega (the brightest star that evening), the Hercules Cluster, and several twin stars. We also saw Jupiter and a couple man made satellites move across the sky. The Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton offers public viewing through their telescopes Friday nights between April and October, weather permitting. Go to the link earlier in this paragraph for more info. Or, if you find yourself in the Princeton area and don't have this page in front of you, all you have to remember is to Google "Princeton Directory". You will find a link to the AAAP site on the Clubs and Organizations page.

Valorie started a Blog: Gaias Pen

2009-08-01T13:05:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, Valorie started her first blog Gaias Pen. Her first entry is an article Managing Stress with Desk Pranayama. I'm sure she will be posting a lot of esoteric thought-provoking articles.

Another Presentation on "How to Do Webinars"

2009-06-22T15:45:00.002-04:00

Again, Joe Budelis of Persimmon Telecommunications gave a presentation on Web Conferencing. This presentation was at the Brookdale Computer Users Group in Monmouth County, NJ. There were about 35 people in the conference room at Brookdale Community College and several people joined the web conference from four remote locations.

KDB Summer Plans

2009-05-31T08:38:00.004-04:00

KDB is going to take some credits towards her bachelors degree at Barnard the latter part of this summer in Paris. Meanwhile, she has found various part time work assignments for the first part of the summer.

How To Do Webinars to be presented at Trenton Computer Festival

2009-04-24T12:00:00.005-04:00

Joe Budelis, owner of Persimmon Telecommunications, will present "How To Do Webinars" at TCF-2009, the Trenton Computer Festival in Trenton, NJ. The PowerPoint slide presentation is available at How to Choose a Conference Service for business or personal use. If you would like to join either the Saturday morning or the Sunday morning presentation remotely, at least 30 minutes before the start time, register at "How To Do Webinars" Registration.

4 Bedroom House For Rent in Country Setting near Princeton, NJ

2009-04-10T11:45:00.004-04:00

Four bedroom house for rent in Blawenburg, NJ. A charming 4 bedroom country house that I rent out, is becoming available in June. The current occupant, as planned, has just bought a home. If you know anyone who may be interested, send them to Princeton Area 4 bedroom Houses For Rent.

Winter Trip To Southeast India

2009-03-01T16:13:00.002-05:00

Joe & Val visited southeast India January 31 to February 9. We had been thinking of visiting India for some time. KDB already toured India on a high school trip! Valorie had been reading the teachings of Dattatreya Siva Baba, who is known as "The YouTube Guru". When he organized an India trip around his birthday, Valorie took it as a sign since it was her birthday. So we went on what was a very special tour of India. Even though tour participants were from various countries, Siva Baba was able to obtain permission for us to visit temple areas that were physically labeled as off limits to foreigners! The tour might best be described as a religious pilgrimage but, at any rate, it gave us a unique view of India very different from what a typical visitor would see. I plan to make some of our photos available to those who are interested. For starters, I've uploaded some to Facebook. If you are not already a "friend" of mine on Facebook, request that I "friend you" to see those photos.

KDB toured Costa Rica on Winter Break

2009-02-22T14:32:00.005-05:00

On KDB's winter break from her Barnard classes, she toured Costa Rica with a group of college students from the NYC area. She enjoyed activities like white water rafting, exploring a volcano, and flying over the forest canopy on a zip line.

Mobil NECC Reunion

2008-12-11T19:58:00.005-05:00

Brian & Melanie Callahan & Doris Wert & Carole Umscheid organized a reunion for Mobil employees that took place on November 14 at Washington Crossing Inn, Washington Crossing, PA. It was great to see a lot of associates, some of whom we hadn't seen or been in touch with for some 8 or 9 years. Doris put together a booklet in which each of us summarized what we've been up to since we left Mobil in Princeton. In addition to the organizers, attendees were Lou Umscheid, Joe & Valorie Budelis, Mike & Kathleen Cosentino, Harry (MTC Engineering Acct Mgr) & Helen Frank (aka Leah, also worked at MTC Pennington), Steve Goldman, Sue Good, Dianne & Bill Hargraves, Bob & Gail Hinkle, Don & Sue Karp Lowing, Jerry & Linda McDermott, Roger Porto, Trish Donaldson (escorted by RMP), Bill (still @ Exxon-Mobil, 25 years now) & Lisa Radcliffe, Sallie Rochford, Frank & Marilyn Romano, Denise Schooley, Bob & Nancy Swierczek, Robin & Connie Unangst, Joe and Ruth Yencha, Ron Wolfe, and Ann Crocker.

How To Do Webinars presented at Trenton Small Business Week

2008-10-27T16:57:00.002-04:00

Last Wednesday, Joe Budelis, as owner of Persimmon Telecommunications, presented "How To do Webinars"as a part of Trenton Small Business Week in Trenton, NJ. For details see How To Do Webinars at Trenton Small Business Week. The PowerPoint slide presentation is available at How to Choose a Conference Service for business or personal use.

Montauk and back to Barnard

2008-09-01T13:35:00.003-04:00

This month we spent some time in Montauk on the tip of Long Island where we had great beach weather. We ended the month yesterday by driving KDB back to Barnard.

Earlier in the year, we lost Tulip, a white Persian cat. We still have two of her kids, Rama and SnowWhite.

Informal NECC Reunion August 1, 2008

2008-08-24T20:36:00.005-04:00

Brian Callahan arranged an August 1 informal lunch and get together for some of us from Mobil NECC. The photo, courtesy of Doris Wert, shows, standing from the left, Joe Budelis, Melanie Callahan, Bob & Nancy Swierczek, Carole Umscheid, Brian the Man, and Doris Wert is seated. Denise Wyckoff Schooley was in the area and stopped by briefly before lunch. Pete Gerster had planned to be there but we are all saddened that instead he was making funeral arrangements because of the sudden death of his son, Martin. Brian is arranging a more formal NECC Reunion for November.

This Summer: Valorie writing articles on Health & Wellness; KDB at The New Yorker

2008-07-20T17:38:00.005-04:00

This summer KDB is a Photo Intern at The New Yorker so she is in the midst of the controversy over this week's New Yorker cover page. See
NPR:'New Yorker' Editor Defends Obama Cover.

Valorie, a Certified Holistic Health Counselor and Reiki Master, has published several Health and Wellness articles. To see some of her articles, you could simply do a search on Sands-Budelis.

Storage Space available near Princeton NJ in Montgomery Township, the Village of Blawenburg

2008-06-07T10:34:00.003-04:00

If you are near Princeton, Montgomery, Hopewell, Rocky Hill, Skillman or Belle Mead, NJ, I have some rental storage space available in the village of Blawenburg. If you know anyone who needs to rent a storage shed or garage in the Mercer county or Somerset County area, have them contact me or send them to Princeton NJ Storage Rental.

VoIP (Voice Over IP) Demystified Presentation

2008-04-29T00:00:00.002-04:00

This weekend I gave a couple presentations on VoIP Demystified at the Trenton Computer Fair. You can see the VoIP (Voice Over IP) Update Abstract for more details.

Vacation to Los Cabos - The tip of Baja

2008-01-13T23:21:00.000-05:00

We just returned from the tip of Baja California - Los Cabos. It was heartwarming to be able to enjoy the 70 to 80 degree beach weather in Los Cabos while we checked the temperature in Princeton and found it to be 19 degrees a number of days (and that wasn't Celesius). It was comfortable that the temperature in Princeton warmed up to the 50s for our return.

The vacation was mainly about relaxing and getting away for a few days. We did make time for the requisite shopping and took a dinner cruise around the gate at Cabo San Lucas. We saw a couple whales and also road amongst some dolphins at the very tip of Baja.

The Changing Times - Email

2007-12-18T10:30:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd write about an example of the changing times. Although many of us make extensive use of Email these days, there are many in the younger generation who don't have time for "old fashioned" things like Email. They are too busy talking or texting on their cell phones!

Sometimes, this is the reason that we don't see answers to our Emails. Of course, our Emails also might not get past a spam filter, the answer might not get past a spam filter, or there may be any other number of technical explanations.

In summary, if an Email is important and you don't receive a response, verify that it was received by sending another Email or trying an alternative means of communication.

Best Buys, Great Deals and Free Stuff

2007-11-24T17:38:00.000-05:00

To those of you who haven't visited my home page, I thought I'd mention that it might be worth a few minutes of your time to scan the great deals including free stuff that I list there. It's a compilation of good deals that I've found mainly on the Internet. I put it together partly so that I would have one place that I could go to see all this info but also so that friends good take advantage of my findings. The first two topics of the dozen or so are about Telecommunications services that I sell. The rest are services or other offerings that I have either taken advantage of myself or that I intend to take advantage of at some point. Info is included on Free Directory Assistance, Free software including things like antivirus software, firewalls, spyware removers, and many other useful areas. View my home page at JoeBudelis.homestead.com.

Helping to stop Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin Lymphoma and Myeloma from taking more lives

2007-08-12T07:16:00.000-04:00

I just signed up to participate in an endurance event to help stop Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin Lymphoma and Myeloma from taking more lives. I'm doing so through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. Visit my Team in Training page and make a donation, however small.

New Approach to Borrowing and Lending Money

2007-06-08T18:12:00.000-04:00

If you need some cash, you can borrow up to $25,000 at competitive rates. Thousands of lenders compete to lower your rate. Or, if you want to lend some money, you will be one of those lenders. Read more about it and join at no cost:
https://www.prosper.com/referrals/all.aspx?utm_content=link&utm_campaign=referrals-all&utm_medium=referral-link&utm_source=referrer-JoeBee

Vegas and Utah

2007-05-08T09:14:00.000-04:00

We were so busy traveling in March and with college application decisions, etc, that April was a catch-up month and I only now realize that we didn't post anything here about our March trips.

Vegas I took my annual trip to the Channel Partners meeting in Vegas at the beginning of the month - it's a chance to learn about new Telecommunications service offerings and to spend some time with others on our Telecom team. Since Valorie is getting involved with me in the business, she accompanied me. Val is helping develop our VAR Partner network. Although some of our meetings were useful to her, she especially enjoyed a little gambling and the shopping!

Utah We spent 10 days in Utah. It was our first visit to the state and we enjoyed it. We started with a few days in Salt Lake City during which we learned a little about the Mormons. After a side trip to Sundance during which Val and KDB enjoyed the spa, we then went up North to the Eden Valley. Although the weather at the condo where we stayed was actually warmer and sunnier than weather in NJ during that period, the skiing on Powder Montain was fantastic.

It's Barnard College

2007-05-01T18:22:00.000-04:00

Finally, KDB has made her decision that she will attend Barnard College. It was a difficult choice between Barnard and Tufts.

VoIP (Voice Over IP) Demystified

2007-04-29T18:49:00.000-04:00

This weekend, I gave a couple presentations on VoIP (Voice Over IP) Demystified at the Trenton Computer Festival. You can see an Abstract of the presentations at the bottom of
http://www.tcf-nj.org/web/TCF-2007-Talks-and-Forums-on-Saturday-Room-RC-D.html.

Privacy???!!!!!!

2007-03-07T19:38:00.000-05:00

KDB considered that I was invading her privacy and insisted that I remove comments in this blog about her, her awards and the college application process.

Windsurfing on Nantucket

2006-07-02T08:39:00.000-04:00

Last month, we took a 10 day vacation to visit Nantucket to see some great films in the Nantucket Film Festival. This was our first visit to the island in a few years. Real Estate prices and restaurant charges have continued to sky rocket. We were very surprised to find that our friend, John Arno, has closed Vincent's restaurant and leased out the space to an upscale restaurant. Vincent's was always one of the more affordable restaurants on the island. However, The Atlantic Cafe still excellent, affordable food including their World renowned Nachos Deluxe. KDB made great progress in her windsurfing with some lessons from her dad.

KDB won awards at the 2006 High School Open Figure Skating Competition

2006-05-03T08:08:00.000-04:00

At this year's High School Open Figure Skating Competition, KDB and her school did well. KDB earned first place in Preliminary Compulsory Moves. Her school, Princeton Day School, won first prize overall. A commercial photographer took photos at the Open; I'll point out KDB on the photogapher's site. On this page, there are 5 photos of KDB in her light pink dress, beginning in row 7. In this team photo, KDB is second from the right in the rear. By clicking on these photos, you can see an enlarged image.

VoIP For Dummies - How to Choose the best VoIP Plan

2006-04-20T16:22:00.000-04:00

I'm scheduled to present VoIP For Dummies - How to Choose the best VoIP Plan at the Trenton Computer Festival the mornings of April 22 and April 23. Visit the TCF site for details.

Budelis Family Speakers

2006-04-16T07:48:00.000-04:00

Last week, by coincidence, two of us gave presentations at the Princeton Public Library. On Tuesday, Joe gave a presentation on
VoIP phone service: Demystifying VoIP. He gave the audience info to assist them in choosing the best VoIP service for their situation.

Then, on Friday, KDB gave background info on her photos shown at the library. One of her photos, that has won awards in other shows, is a digital montage of a rock show. Other award winning photos that she displayed at the library are photos that she took during her trip to India last year. KDB spoke of how, on this trip, she learned to move beyond her shyness to be able to take close-up photos of people she had never met before.

VoIP For Dummies Small Business Development Workshop

2006-02-02T09:43:00.000-05:00

For those in the Mercer County, NJ area, I'm running a VoIP For Dummies Small Business Development Workshop on March 8. Details are given at http://www.tcnj.edu/tcnj/sbdc/documents/2006_SBDCTrng_web.doc.

Another Driver

2005-12-19T17:57:00.000-05:00

KDB turned 17 yesterday; she passed her driver road test today! The test was challenging. Although we read in the manual that one could not use a car that has a center console between the student driver and the examiner, we were guessing that rule was outdated since most cars have consoles today. KDB was scheduled to take her test at 9:30. Once we arrived, we found that meant that it was ok for her to get in line at 9:30. The line was more than half an hour long. When we got to the front of the line, the examiner said that, if there is a console, there must be an emergency brake control near the console that he could use to stop the car in an emergency. Well, that ruled out our Lexus. The examiner said we would not be able to rent a car for the test because insurance on a rental car would not cover a test. He did say we could return before 1 PM that day instead of rescheduling. So I asked an instructor in a Drivers' Ed car that was in line. He would allow KDB to take the test in his car but there was an outrageous charge: $110 for about 15 minutes in the car, and the $110 had to be in cash. Furthermore, he had a tight schedule and could not afford any time to allow KDB to drive the car to get familiarized with it before the test! Well, instead of disappointing KDB by rescheduling sometime in the not-too-near future and having to wait in line again, I went to an ATM in Quakerbridge Mall, got the cash and set her up for the test. She had some difficult since the car handled so differently than the Lexus but she passed!

A Miracle of Modern Medicine

2005-12-18T07:18:00.000-05:00

Last month, blood in my urine lead to the discovery that I had a kidney stone that was 7 to 8 cm in diameter. Using a non-invasive procedure called ESWL, the Urologist was able to reduce this relatively large stone to sand sized particles that I passed without too much pain. ESWL concentrates sound waves on the stone and crumbles it with that sound! It's an amazing procedure and I'm sure glad it worked so well.

Colorado Skiing for Thanksgiving Week

2005-12-04T22:48:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving week, we flew to Denver, drove to Avon, Colorado and skied Vail and Beaver Creek. We started at Vail which opened a couple days before we arrived. After a couple days there, the compacted powder was beginning to form some ice so we switched to Beaver Creek on its opening day. This gave us better powder. All week we had blue skies and sunny days. Although new fresh natural snow didn't arrive till the morning that we drove the 100 plus miles on I70 back to Denver, we had some great skiing. The week was so delightful that Valorie and KDB are both sold on our next ski vacation being out West. Incidentally, the day after we drove back to Denver, 275 miles of I70 was closed because of low visibility in blowing snow.

KDB's Photography Career Continues

2005-10-01T23:11:00.000-04:00

KDB had a one-person photography show at Princeton Day School over the last few weeks. Additionally, one of her photos will be featured in a new Photography textbook. Meanwhile, she is busy with 11th grade and preparations for taking the SAT.

Valorie's 2005 Landscape Design

2005-09-17T13:44:00.000-04:00

To give some idea of Valorie's 2005 gardening, here is our side window box and a view of the front yard over the rose bush.

Storage Space available near Princeton NJ in Skillman

2005-09-16T18:24:00.000-04:00

For any who live near Princeton, Hopewell, Rocky Hill, Skillman or Belle Mead, NJ, I have some rental storage space that is becoming available. If you know anyone who needs to rent a storage shed or garage in the Mercer county or Somerset County area, have them contact me or send them to NJ Storage Rental.

Hurricane Katrina Rescue and Relief efforts

2005-09-05T00:26:00.000-04:00

For information on how you can help the Hurricane Katrina Rescue and Relief efforts, go to http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/katrinadonations.shtm.

A specific charity that I feel looks attractive is the Mercy Corps. While they primarily work outside the US, the similarities between the devastation in the South and that seen after the Indonesian tsunami are inescapable, so they are responding to the affected area. They have dispatched a team led by the same man who led the team to Sri Lanka after the Indian Ocean tsunami.

They are providing immediate relief through a partner organization that was among the first responders. In a couple of weeks though, the crisis will have abated and people will face restarting their lives with no home, no job and no stability for their families. Mercy Corps will be working to provide paying jobs clearing debris, rebuilding communities etc. similar to the help they provided in Indonesia. This lets the people who have lost everything begin to buy what they need and rebuild their lives with dignity, giving them a hand up rather than handouts.

Mercy Corps is also looking to get the children into school which provides the stability they need in their lives. This will be an ongoing mission long after all the news networks have returned to their regular programming and this disaster is no longer in the front of our minds. If you do not yet have a favorite organization to donate money to, please consider Mercy Corps.

You'll find the Mercy Corps site at http://www.mercycorps.org/.

Daniel Pentecost's blog also has some good info on what you can do to help with Katrina.

Columbia University

2005-07-31T09:00:00.000-04:00

KDB is back at home after 4 weeks at Columbia University where she took a creative writing course. She also got to know Manhattan and the subway system as well or better than I know it!

"Rock & Leaf" on World Tour

2005-07-16T09:19:00.000-04:00

Kristina's "Rock & Leaf" photograph (see May 7, 2005 post below) is on a World Tour being on display in South Africa and Australia this month. This fall it will return to the USA for a tour through the USA, Canada and the UK into 2007.

Photography Workshop in Rockport Maine

2005-07-01T10:16:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we traveled to Rockport, ME and picked up KDB after she completed a two week Photography course that was recommended by her High School Photography teacher. We spent a few days exploring that part of Maine. It's a pleasant area, especially this time of year. Although it was generally hot while we were there, one of KDB's first days in Rockport, the temperature was 51 while it was 91 in Princeton! We had a couple great lobster dinners while there.

Wedding of George Budelis and Julie Marie Adams

2005-06-06T23:18:00.000-04:00

This past Friday my nephew, George Edward Budelis, married Julie Marie Adams at the Geneva Farm Golf Club north of Baltimore, MD. Here is a photo. Wish I had been a little more to the left so that it would have given a better view of Julie.

Mobil NECC Reunion

2005-05-22T23:20:00.000-04:00

I worked at Mobil in Princeton for many years and was volunteered to organize the 2005 Reunion of NECC (Mobil's NorthEast Computer Center). On May 1, we had a pleasant get-together at Winberies in Princeton's Palmer Square. The photo below is courtesy of Mel Callahan. The actual photo is much better quality - I reduced the file size so you wouldn't have to wait forever for it to download to your PC.

Clockwise starting in the shadows on the left are Brian Callahan, Bob and Nancy Swierzak, Mel Callahan, Valorie Budelis, Linda McDermott, Giulio Solia, Carole Umscheid, Jerry McDermott, John Sawyer, Pete Gerster, and myself. Doris Wert joined us when she was able to get away from her church. I wish I could have readily satisfied those who wanted to come but had schedule conflicts. Giulio Solia was volunteered to organize the next reunion.

KDB's Next School Trip - Photography Contest

2005-05-07T09:29:00.000-04:00

About two weeks after KDB's return from India, she was off on another school trip. This time it was for a photography exhibition in Chicago. KDB won a prize in the exhibition. In another contest with results posted on-line, she won a prize for her "Rock & Leaf" entry. And, last night she won a prize in the House of Representatives' contest for our Congessional District. In fact, after the awards, she had offers from two parties wanting to purchase her entry. She is a budding photographer.

KDB's School Trip

2005-03-26T07:53:00.002-05:00

Our daughter just returned from her Spring Break School Trip - to India! Things have changed since some of us grew up. KDB's grandmother, Louise Budelis, never stepped foot in a plane in spite of the fact that her son, KDB's dad, has flown as a commercial pilot!

The trip was a life changing experience for KDB. She has a much clearer understanding that there are people on the earth who live very differently than we do. She was very pleased to have seen the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala.

The Princeton Packet ran an article on the trip entitled "Study of faiths during PDS trip to India includes surprise encounter". Originally, I had a link here to that article but it's moved and I'm not sure it's still available online. Here is a photo of KDB at the base of the Himalayas near Dharamsala, India.

What have I been doing?

2005-03-13T08:24:00.000-05:00

Since 1997, I've been consulting - IT or Business consulting, typically acting as a project leader or program manager but with such diverse assignments as Senior Financial Analyst, SAS Data Analyst, Business InfraStructure Manager and Data Base Administrator. Early on, organizations were requesting 60 to 70 hours or so a week of my time and willing to pay well for that time. In more recent years, as the economy changed, that demand greatly diminished. During slow consulting periods, I have taken what was once somewhat of a hobby and turned it into a profitable venture.

What I am doing now is Telecommunications consulting and sales. Although I still do some IT and business consulting - PC support, database work and analyses, I mainly assist businesses throughout the USA in finding cost effective solutions to their telecommunications requirements. I market basically two ways: on-line and off-line. On-line, that is, on the internet, my approaches are SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay per click). By off-line, I mean by initially contacting prospects by phone or in-person. Most recently I have been specializing as a "Closer" where others send me leads with whom I use my technical and sales training to determine the most cost-effective solutions.

Originally, I helped residential and small businesses find the best options. Although I now concentrate on medium to large businesses, I still make myself available to assist in personal requirements. I mainly work on such services as T1 and DS3 voice and data, high speed internet access and VoIP phone service.

Technically, I’m an agent for somewhere around 50+ companies. Each of these companies offers numerous plans. So what I do is offer customers a complimentary analysis and then determine the best plan to satisfy their need. Everyone’s requirements are different. About 90% of the time when I do an analysis, I find that, by going to a more appropriate plan, a savings of typically 10 to 80% can be obtained.

Last I checked, I had at least one on-line client in Hawaii. Except for possibly Alaska, I have clients in most states. My off-line clients are generally in NJ but there are a few in NY, MD, VA, PA and FL. NY, FL and PA because they are either associates I had worked with or referrals of associates. In MD and VA cause I have family there and I shared some options with them so that they could participate in the savings.

I like the significant flexibility in when and how I work. I can choose to do all on-line marketing; mainly just working as a closer; or to approach the business from other points of view. I can choose the time and days that I work. Although, during my recent vacation to the Yucatan, a prospect, whom I had been in touch with for some time, finally decided it was time to move on a T1. So I made time during my vacation to handle it. That was a challenge since there were significant periods of time when I was outside communications range, for example, in the jungle or in the water.

My Telecommunications Blog

2005-02-19T00:28:00.000-05:00

This morning, I began a blog for my Telecommunications business. I christened it with a few words on VoIP. It is at PersimmonTelecom.blogspot.com and it refers to my recently written VoIP for Dummies web page.

December Vacation

2005-01-05T04:15:00.000-05:00

Just got back from Cancun Mexico on Christmas Eve. Almost didn't make it back. In the morning, went on the web to check status of our flight and found it had been canceled because "crew not available". Two (chargeable) calls to the US Airways 800 number in the USA resulted in our being disconnected before making it through the IVR system to a person. Finally, American Express connected us to a US Airways Mexican toll free number that reached an agent in the UK. Although she didn't know what time it was in Cancun, she did see that of the 200+ passengers on the canceled flight, we were amongst the "lucky" few who were put on an earlier flight. We had to cut short our morning plans and rush to the airport. Other than that surprise at the end, we enjoyed the trip - visiting archeological sites, swimming, parasailing, windsurfing, and otherwise enjoying the All-Inclusive hotel. Joe relearned how to windsurf and gave some lessons to KDB. Joe relearned some Spanish and KDB learned some Spanish for the first time. Although internet access and phoning from a Mexico vacation was inconvenient, Joe was able to sell a T1 line while on the trip.

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