Josh Madagan

Life

Josh — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:26:19 +0000

Life is so weird at times. The other day my wife and I were talking about one of my ex-girlfriends who has been really sick. The subject came up because my wife’s father had just recently been diagnosed with cancer. I was telling her how my ex-girlfriend had come down with some type of bone cancer. Well today I found out that she had passed away yesteday around 12:00 noon.

It seemed strange to me that I was just thinking about her and then to get this news. She was only about 38 years-old. She had been sick for a long time though and living in a nursing home. It is still hard to hear about someone your age dying. Her mom had called me this morning tell me about the situation and she asked me to help out with the funeral. Like I mentioned earlier life is so weird at times.

The Holidays and Holiday Shopping

Josh — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:55:17 +0000

I don’t know why but this time of year also reminds me of Thanksgiving and Christmas. When the summer is coming to an end and when the school year is beginning thoughts of snow and cold, Christmas trees, turkey, presents, family, friends and time off from work always come to mind. One other thing that comes to mind as well is Christmas shopping. I don’t understand how anyone could possibly like Christmas shopping. I will never forget one year in particular when I decided to drive my wife to go shopping on black Friday. If you don’t know what black Friday is you are lucky, but let me fill you in, it is the day after Thanksgiving when everyone decides to go shopping. Everyone in the world seems to go out to the shopping malls on that day. Merchants make more money on that day than any other day of the year. So it is good for them but bad for the rest of us who become claustrophobic in crowds.

What I decided from that experience is that I will never, ever do it again. I only went because I had to look at some computer parts and thought I would be able to get the best prices that day. Let me repeat myself never, ever will I do that again! This year I decided to do all of my Christmas shopping on-line. I found a great website that offers black Friday shopping online. It’s called cyber monday and it lists a number of stores, including my favorite Circuit City, so that all your black Friday shopping can be done right at home! The prices and the deals are the same as you would get if you were actually shopping on black Friday. Take a look at the website and see all the great deals that are offered.

Marriage

Josh — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:17:35 +0000

Why do women want to get married so bad. I have been married for a few years now but I wouldn’t say it is any better or worse than being single. The other night I was out with a couple of my single friends and the topic of marriage came up. It came up mainly because I am in a wedding this October, but once the discussion began both of my buddies had something to say about it.

They are both dealing with situations involving marriage and their girlfriends. One of my friends has been dating this girl for 2 years and she is ready to settle down and he is not. Rick has been married before and it didn’t work out so he is more than happy just staying single forever. Too bad his girlfriend doesn’t feel the same way. Tony on the other hand has never been married and feels like he is missing something. In his case though his girlfriend has no interest in getting married. A funny thought just came to mind; Rick’s girlfriend should probably be dating Tony and Tony’s girlfriend should probably be dating Rick. It’s kind of a sick thought but hey I’m a guy.

Freedom from Debt

Josh — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:57:21 +0000

I don’t think there is anything else that causes more stress than monthly bills that cannot be paid. It seems like every year expenses go up. I try my best not to use credit cards, but then a lot of times something unexpectedly will happen. For example, last month my car needed repairs and the bill came out $375. A couple months ago I had to go to the dentist and have a tooth pulled which cost another $192. I don’t know about you but I don’t have extra money like that sitting around.

It’s nice to know that there are companies out there whose main job is to help us out of debt. Basically they do all the work for us when it comes to negotiating with our creditors. One company in particular is called Freedomdebtrelief.com. They are so good they will try to reduce debt by 50%. That means if your credit card debt is reaching $20-$30,000 they will negotiate to have it reduced to $10-$15,000! You can find all the information you need on their website at Freedom Debt Relief. It’s kind of nice to know that there are people out there who can help us. It’s also nice to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to credit card debt.

Working Out

Josh — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:50:47 +0000

I have recently started to work-out again. I knew I needed to when I began waking up with aches and pains in my legs and back. Part of the reason for that at my job a lot of the time I am on my feet. Anyhow I have noticed how much better I am feeling now that I am back at the gym. The only problem I am having is not seeing results quick enough.

I decided to ask some of my coworkers about the new trends in working out. Being a guy and all I don’t stay up on that stuff very well. The responses I got included yoga and pilates. They were the work-outs that seemed to do the best job of strengthening muscles! I don’t know much about pilates but I can tell you one thing I will not be signing up for any yoga classes anytime soon. I do have a pilates class scheduled for tomorrow so we will see how that goes. I will keep you posted.

Grandfather Clocks

Josh — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:20:15 +0000

I was amazed when I opened the website for http://www.1-800-4clocks.com/grandfather-clocks.html. Not for the reasons you may think though. There is an assortment of gorgeous clocks ranging from contemporary to traditional, as well as limited editions. Any clock you are looking for is located on this site. Mantell clocks, wall clocks, antique clocks, watches, and the list goes on and on. Famous makers include Infinity, Ridgeway, Hemle, Howard Miller, etc. This is a one of a kind website and offers everything you could possibly be looking for when it comes to telling time. Also take a look at the blogs that have been written regarding these incredible clocks.

Not only was I highly impressed with the set up of the site, but the offers that come along with purchasing one of these beautiful clocks are amazing. You can receive a zero % financing option for one year on any new clock purchase over $1,000, free USA shipping and in home set-up on Grandfather Clocks. No sales tax outside of New York and the Lowest Prices Guaranteed! Not only is this site amazing but it’s hard to believe these great deals are included as well.
When I first starting researching grandfather clocks in order to purchase one for our house I had a picture in my mind of the kind of clock I wanted. I was happily surprised when I pulled up the website for grandfather clocks. The design I had envisioned was right there on the first page that came up. When I was growing up my mother had a grandfather clock that my brother had made from scratch for her. I was so excited to see a similar model in the howard miller collection! It reminded me so much of my mother’s clock that it brought back a lot of childhood memories. I cannot wait to purchase this clock and start some of our own memories in our new house.

Airlines

Josh — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:36:02 +0000

Is it just me or is everyone having trouble with flying these days. It seems like ever since 9/11 happened everything has been crazy with the airlines. I was trying to fly out last night from Dulles airport to New York and the flight was cancelled because there wasn’ t a pilot.

The pilot just decided not to show up. So we all got airline vouchers which is nice, but we all had to wait an extra day before taking out flight! There was no other explanation given than there wasn’t a pilot. I think I would have rather have been told that the pilot was sick, etc. It just shows how a decision by one person can affect a whole bunch of people. It was hard to find a hotel that wasn’t overbooked due to this and I didn’t have my luggage or any clean clothes to wear today. In the future I’m going to think twice about booking an airline ticket.

Watch this movie Sicko if your an American

Josh — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:18:53 +0000

Stopped by a friends house the other day and he and his wife were just starting this movie called Sicko by Michael Moore that pointed out a lot of things we need to change here in America, one of them being medical care for all our citizens. How can we take care of other countries we when we can not even take care of our own people. SO in my opinion we need to stop funding other countries until we can take care of every American citizens health care.

Why are we spending 45 billion dollars on AIDS drugs to fight in AIDS in Africa when we have sick people here in the United States with no way to get medicine. It is time we made tough choices them or us and I am voting for us because this movie just made me sick to my stomach when I saw how our citizens are being treated and forced into debt while other countries give away free health care and free schooling. Makes you wonder who is free and who are slaves in this World of ours.

If you could start up any company.

Josh — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:59:10 +0000

If you had a million dollars or better yet a billion dollars, and could start up a company of any type what would you start up and why? I often wonder what I would do if I had an unlimited budget to work with what would I build and why? Would it be for self benefit or to benefit mankind or the World. I like to think that anything that would better the World or Mankind could easily find funding for because there are so many people out there that are willing to help out each other.

Getting back to the title of this post what would you do and think long and hard about this question before you write a comment because I do not need any lame one liners I want to hear the whole story so please make it well thought out!

The 2008 Olympics

Josh — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:20:27 +0000

I love the fact that the Olympics are currently on. That is one thing that I look forward to watching every 4 years. I have always loved sports and watching the USA compete for the gold is so exciting. The competition has been fierce this time around. Countries such as India and China are doing really well.

The gymnastics competition was on a couple of nights ago and I heard that China swept them away. It’s easy to believe though because I watched a special on the news the night previous to the gymnastics competition and one of China’s head coaches explained the grueling practices these young children go through. Everything from 8 hour practices a day for 6 year-olds and up to being hand picked to be an Olympian. I guess every country has it’s own rules and ideas and will do what it takes to be the best.

Date night

Josh — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:27:52 +0000

It’s been such a boring week and I really want to do something fun, so I called my wife and asked her to arrange for a babysitter so we can have a date night.

Last time she made all the plans for the date and we had a great time.

This time I really want to see one of the new movies that just came out, so it will be dinner and a movie. Not exactly thrills and chills for a date, but it should be a nice, low key and fun night anyway. I want to find a restaurant that will be very romantic and I think I will surprise my wife with some fresh flowers when I get home. There is a florist in the shopping center across from my office, so I’ll stop by there on my way out.

Really watching the clock today and looking forward to 5:00 pm.

Now the Peppers Can Kill You, Too

Josh — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:05:24 +0000

I can’t believe that the FDA has not figured out the cause of this salmonella outbreak. I mean, come on people. It’s been over two weeks since my secretary’s husband came down with the salmonella poisoning and the FDA banned tomatoes as the suspected source. Now they are saying that it might be jalapeno peppers, too. And possibly onions. So evidently now they are going to have to pull all the fresh salsa off the shelves and eating raw peppers can kill you.

I really don’t understand what is taking so long to solve this and I feel badly for all the farmers and stores are are suffering from the lack of sales because the FDA can’t figure this out.

The End of July

Josh — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:37:42 +0000

It is almost the end of the work week and the end of the month is already here. I normally love the month of July but this past July has been interesting. I had to make a trip back home to where I grew up because my father got ill. He actually found out he had cancer and had to go in and have emergency surgery.

I can’t remember a time when I ever saw my father ill while I was growing up. It was a shock to hear that he had cancer after being healthy for so many years. I guess it is always a shock to hear when someone close to you is sick. Fortunately everything turned out alright and the doctors feel that they got every bit of the cancer. Modern medicine is amazing that is all I can say.

Crazy Schedule

Josh — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:18:10 +0000

I don’t think any other TV show besides Big Brother has this weird broadcast schedule of a show on Sunday night, then another one in the series on Tuesday and again another new one the very next night. so this show is on three times each week, and it is supposedly live. that’s really different scheduling and I wonder how they are getting away with it?

Last night’s episode of Big Brother already has some great twists and turns in the plot to evict people. Tonight they actually have the live vote and I suspect that an early frontrunner will end up leaving the show.

This is a like trainwreck where you can’t help yourself from watching.

Sunday Nights

Josh — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:07:03 +0000

I love Sunday evenings with the family. I think I always have because that was the night when the whole family would get together to watch tv or go swimming when I was a child. It was nice having a big family and all of us eating together and spending the rest of our weekend together.

Of course as a child I didn’t have to worry about getting up for work the next day. I do remember when the summers were over and Sunday evenings were a little bit scary because I knew I had school the next day. I never really liked school and I do remember the sick feeling in my stomach now on some Sunday nights. There was nothing like the Summer evenings though. All those wonderful memories spent out in the pool on Sunday nights.