I love living in Gainesville because we are so close to everything that’s fun in Florida, which includes Universal Orlando Resort.  CeCe Taylor and I decided to hit the parks Sunday before our broadcast and what a fun time!  The weather was perfect, not too hot or cold, no breaking a sweat and no wind!  SO we rode ‘The Hulk’ roller coaster three times, did Spiderman and just enjoyed the day.  Then,we hit Universal Studios, where we rode the Simpsons ride and Men In Black.  At that time, we needed to get back to the hotel and prepare for the next day’s broadcast.  So we dined at Emeril’s restaurant and what a treat that was! Yum-yum and delicious.

Sometimes we forget how many fun things are within a drive of Gainesville and Ocala.  During this brief time of the year, when it’s not too hot, too cold, too humid or too rainy, I recommend you use one of those ‘personal’ days and get out and enjoy what our beautiful state has to offer!

2010 is turning out to be a disaster-filled year.  First the devastating earthquake in Haiti and now Chile.  Here are some ways you can help.  Jjust click on the links for more information.  As with any major disaster, the best way to help is with a monetary donation.

American Red Cross

Ameri Cares

Operation USA

The economy may be getting stronger, but companies are still looking at ways to increase their bottom line.  Home insurance companies are now considering a 10 percent rate hike for homeowners who use internet services such as Twitter and Facebook. The reason is because of the need to update the world on where you are and what you’re doing each minute of your life is a great way for burglars to find out when you’re not home! Insurance expert Darren Black said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if, as social media grows in popularity and more location-based applications come into play, the insurance providers consider these in their pricing of an individual’s risk. We could see rises of up to 10 percent for people who use these sites.” Black offers the following advice to users of social networking websites: Never post your home address or other personal information such as your home phone number on social networking sites, don’t follow people you don’t know on social networks and block others from seeing your profile if you don’t know them. (Sky News)

C’mon! Do you see the attempt for the insurance industry to blame social networks for a rate increase???  First off, I do not see burglars watching every person social network status who live on one particular block.  It would be easier for them to walk up to your home’s door and knock on it to see if you are home.  So with the logic of the insurance companies, having a door knocker or doorbell would cause them to raise our rates by 10%!  Ridiculous!!!

Storm and Chris announced it Tuesday morning, Jimmy Buffett is coming to the Ford Amphitheatre in Tampa on Saturday, April 24th .  Tickets go on sale Saturday, February 20th at 10am.  Click here for a direct link to purchase tickets or call 1-877-598-8698.  You can also purchase tickets at the venue box office.  To celebrate, CeCe Taylor is giving you a chance to win tickets Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week during the 12 noon hour before you can buy them!  Check your email inbox for a message from 98.5 KTK about the show.

I admit it!  I am horrible remembering names of people who are introduced to me.  Yes, I’ve tried the trick of saying their name in a sentence, associating their name with a rhyme or acronym,etc, etc, etc.  I am not sure why this part of my brain is so resistant to learning new things but I stumbled across these tidbits from brainiacs on how to better remember the important things in life:

 Long List — Walk into a grocery or music store without a list and chances are, you’ll forget something you came for. Mental lists can dissolve when you’re faced with an abundance of similar choices. The brain booster – visualize each choice. “The more unusual, the more easily it can be recalled,” says Shane Bush, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist on Long Island, NY.

Phone Numbers — The brain’s buffer can handle only so many numbers. So, “combine them into bigger units,” says George W. Rebok, Ph.D., professor in the department of mental health at Johns Hopkins University. The brain booster – find meaning in sections of the number. Phone numbers are already broken up, but rechunk them to simplify. Look for three and four digit patterns and link them to years, area codes, whatever.

Introductions — “It doesn’t matter how good you are at remembering things,” says Hagwood. “Even the best experts can forget information if it’s delivered too quickly.” The brain booster – the key here, says Hagwood, is to control the flow of information. As you’re being introduced, pause at the third person. Make a comment on his or her name, outfit, or resemblance to some celebrity. As others are responding, mentally review the names of the first two people you just met. Repeat with every third person you meet.

I got to tell you, my world has turned upside down in recent days.  The grocery store I normally shop at has closed for renovation.  They say it will re-open in the fall…bigger and better than ever, which will mean better shopping experience…all with that new car smell!  But for now, I feel like a remote control car without being controlled.  I have to search out another grocery store.  To be honest, it feels like I am cheating on my spouse!  I’ve tried several different grocery stores and I hate them all…even though they are still owned by the same company.  I guess it will get better over the next few weeks. Until then, I will seek out the 2nd best grocery store to shop until my first choice returns!

Let me first say that I am not typing this to get out of the ticket.  I violated the posted speed limit and I must pay the fine.  The last speeding ticket I received was over 7 years ago and I was a commuter between Gainesville and Ocala for over 5 years.  Yes on occasion, I make mistakes and today I didn’t pay close enough attention to my speed.  Although, my observation since my ‘incident’ is there seems to be an unusually high number of law enforcement vehicles on the road.  My other observation is that there are only 3 days left in the month.  Coincidence?  Be safe on the roads and pay attention to your speed.

Also interesting to point out in this recession economy, that attending driving school no longer reduces the amount of your fine!

Never fails to amaze me, as soon as I was my car a bird finds it and makes a visit.  What is it with birds??? Do the purposely scope out the shiniest cars?  Do they have a fancy for fresh car wax?  Or are they just making a mockery of me?  Of course not, they are birds!  Which reminds me about feeding the seagulls on the beach.  NEVER FEED THE SEAGULLS ON THE BEACH.  They should post that at the entrance of every beach in America.  Sure, its neat to feed the birds, but they leave their mark upon your stuff, or even worse on you.  Oh well, can’t blame the critters for doing what comes natural.  I should remember that when I wash my car, not to park it near trees!!! 

So let me start off by saying I have some terrific friends.  Friday (1/22) was my birthday and I am at the stage of my life where they really don’t mean much to me, but my friends had other plans.  To them, I say thank you.  You made my birthday extra special and it will be one to remember for a lifetime.

Now, on to my blog topic, which is computer passwords.  First, I hate having one password for the computer, another for the netowrk and yet another for the dozens of web sites I visit.  Now I do understand they importance of passwords, but I wish there was some sort of standard.  Some passwords need to be changed every 30 days, some never, some need numbers and letters and yet others are case-sensitive.  So it is no surprise that many of us use simple passwords that are easy to remember.  But here lies the problem, hackers know these simple passwords and use them for access.  Here are the 10 worst passwords you could use:

123456
12345
123456789
Password
iloveyou
princess
rockyou
1234567
12345678
abc123

So if one of your passwords is posted in this list, CHANGE IT! What sort of password SHOULD people be using?  Imperva made the following recommendations:

It should contain at least eight characters (30% of users had passwords that were six letters or less)
It should contain a mix of four different types of characters (i.e: upper case, lower case, numbers, symbols)
It should not be a name, word, or contain any part of your name or email address
The report also suggests using a different password for every website, not sharing your passwords with third parties, and using the first letters of each word in a sentence as your password (For instance, “this little piggy went to market” would be “tlpWENT2m”).

Well another mark in my life is approaching fast…my birthday.  Now I am not one to fudge my age (at least yet) or say the best days of my life are behind me, but being a thirtysomething I wonder of what could have been.  I remember back to those high school guidance counselor sessions where I was asked what I wanted to do in life.  Of course, having the ambition of youth, I wanted to set the world on fire.  Now, I have achieved many of those goals set so long ago, but I always feel I could have done more.  SoI did some investigating and found some achievements made by people before they were 30.  

• Mark Twain published his first short story, “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog.”
• Donald Trump persuaded bankers to lend him $80 million so he could buy the Commodore Hotel.
• Samuel Morse’s assistant, Alfred Lewis Vail, devised Morse code.
• Physicist Armand H. L. Fizeau measured the speed of light.
• Bill Gates was the first person ever to become a billionaire by age 30.
• Earl Vickers started the Dollar Project, in which dollar bills were rubber-stamped as being lost, with a reward offered for their safe return.

Oh well, so I had a motivation problem.  But looking back at my life so far, I am so happy with my accomplishments.  I am successful, have great friends and feel the best in life is still to come.