gatorcast from paul smith

iTunes Store approved and released my 1st iPhone App last night.  It can be found here.

I was totally inspired by not smoking and used that motivation to build an App that would help remind me of the time, money and number of cigarettes I was consuming.  All for nothing.

I am now 25.6 days since I smoked, I have not smoked 625 cigarettes and I have saved $203.   Of course the money is the least important of the three.  The volume of cigs really hits home.

I started smoking 20 months ago and do not miss it at all.

I also realized that if I could quit smoking, I could do anything.

Today I discovered something wonderful!   Tests..

We are using a new system at school that allows me to build exams, tests and quizzes.

I can have the exam reveal the answers immediately or make them wait until the all submitted.    I can time it, and when complete,  show the class by question the % or number that they got correct.  Real-time.   It was fun after the test today showing them the results and correct answers.

The test today had 11 questions that I thought were easy, but for most it was hard.  Only 1 student out of 34 got 100.   The average was below 60.

It was very interesting listening to them go through trying to solve the questions.  All of this was open book too.

In addition to getting them to review and truly have to think, this  exercise will also help in the future when I ask them to pay attention and get their assignments done.   Technology, I love it.

I took this picture last Wednesday as Evan was getting ready to leave for school.  Both boys are growing up so fast right before my eyes.    Cameron starts GHS next week.

Bastille Day 2010 Celebration on July 14, 2010 – Today marks the 130th anniversary of the France’s National Holidaym the Bastille day. This also marks the birth of La Republique. The Bastille Day celebration is considered as one of the most coveted celebrations of the French citizens.

It was said that on this day, the ruling of people with intellectual, social and economic status mixes with the ordinary people in the Presidential Garden to raise a toast for the big celebration.

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I have been celebrating Bastille Day for the last 20 years or my life.  Twenty years is a long time, but certainly not as long as the 130 the French have been celebrating or the 200+ years this country has celebrated their freedom.

It is sad that some people with a “perceived” intellectual,  social and economic status still do not mix with ordinary people.

Celebrations like today should remind us that nothing is forever and that we must always work at relationships with family, friends, countries and even enemies.   If we do, then we can celebrate Bastille day forever.

So, here is to the French,  Happy Bastille Day!

I’ve had this craftsman gas blower for a long time.  I think more than 14 years…  Last year I took it apart to fix the choke.  I basically broke the plastic lever off.  So I cut a hole in the case and now ‘manually’ set the choke.  At the time it was a big  job and I thought I disassembled most of it.  Not.

Well, the pull cord broke and I let it sit for a few months and last Sunday I decided to ‘fix’ it to save money.  And since it has been a reliable machine I thought it was the right thing to do.    You would not believe what I had to do to replace the $3.56 pull cord. Yep, take it completely apart.

Here it is at the point where I could actually insert the new cord.  Notice the number of parts!! ;->

Ok, here it is back together 3 hours later.  And it works better than ever.

Tonight I escorted Bishop Victor Galeone, the bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine  into the annual Catholic Charities dinner at the Touchdown Terrace at Florida Field.

We had about  eight 4th Degree Knights in the Color Guard.

Mark and I walked with the Bishop to his seat.   The dinner was catered and made on site by Carrabba’s Italian Grill and was awesome as usual.    Thanks John Barli, a soon to be  Knight of Columbus!

Here is Mark, Bishop Victor Galeone, me