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Vegas and Utah

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

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

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???!!!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.