New porch for my girl

Last November I got a little busy working on my daughter's porch. Her old one was already dangerously worn out and almost dilapidated.

 

Photo of my boy going down the stairs. Look how worn out they are.

 

 Photos of my boy years ago at the porch while sissy was grilling.

Well, porch is one of my expertise, bragging aside so I am sharing some of the photos of the finished job that my Sweetie took.

 This is the stairs looking down from the smaller or upper porch at the main door.

 Same stairs going down the landing or the bigger or lower porch.

 

This lower porch is big enough for outdoor entertaining, grilling, chilling, or sunbathing which my daughter loves doing during summertime.

 

The second stairs going to the lower porch.

It took me about a couple of weeks to finish the job. It could be shorter if not for the weather. So if you like to have one like this.... contact me. wink*** :)

At Play

My boy cracks me up. He amuses himself and me with his kind of games. And he plays well with his amazing imagination.

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Changing Season

Here in Maine, the changing colors of the trees and apple picking are just too of the proofs of the changing season.

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Feeling the Motion

My Sweetie visited a pottery shop in the Philippines last summer. This is one of the photos she took during that visit where she witnessed how potteries are made by hand.

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Helping Mother Nature

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of dredman for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have built houses for over 20 years now. And trust me building techniques are changing more often now that it used to 20 years ago. Modern technologies and inventions paved a way to new building designs and amenities. And with the unending search to save our planet and going green, it is not surprising that even our government is investing to come up with strategies and incentives to encourage people to use energy saving building materials and home equipment.

I am no environmentalist. But I love the idea to save our planet and I do my share in protecting our environment. Why not, I love the outdoors. It’s my playground. I hunt, I fish, I pan for gold and a whole bunch of things I do as hobbies. I do everything outdoors so I want to protect my playgorund - my environment.

And one of the greatest inventions that we have right now is the solar panel. And just recently I found out that there is such thing as - Solar Panel Rebates.

For our recent building projects, we now install Home Solar Panels Most of our clients and homeowners are now aware of the said rebates. I think that it is the right incentive to consume clean energy. The rebates from solar panel are given by the governments which are offered both to companies and the people who opted to install them in their homes. Cool huh!

For those of you who are still not familiar with the Rebates on Solar Panels, here’s what you need to know about solar power rebates:

#1: These rebates can comprise a significant amount.
These rebates are quite an incentive. Depending on the number and the quality of the panels that you install, you can get thousands of dollars in rebates. I know people who got tens of thousands. It depends on a number of factors.
#2: Solar power rebates make the use of solar power worth it.
At the moment, it’s quite hard to produce clean energy. The technology is not there yet. The economic incentive for producing clean energy doesn’t exist without the intervention of government.
#3: The amount saved with solar power rebates is different from state to state.
I can’t tell you right now how much money you are going to get in your particular case. There are too many variables and the amounts differ tremendously from state to state. Some states offer 10%, others 50% and others even more.
#4: Check out the regulations regarding solar panels in your own state.
Each state and country has its own incentives, rules and regulation regarding clean energy. Read all the rules and the exceptions. Only after you understand the rules, you should decide the next steps including the type of clean energy that you are going to use.
#5: In addition, you can gain an income stream as long as you produce a surplus of clean energy.
The purpose of solar energy is not to help you become energy independent. This is not really possible at the moment unless you live close to equator. Its purpose is to help you consume more clean energy.
#6: Why do we have rebates for clean energy?
Governments like to tell people what to do. In this case, they wanted to increase the amount of clean energy. Clean energy is better for the environment because it doesn’t expel any greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The clean energy generators do not create pollution while they produce clean energy. A few examples of clean energy generators are wind turbines and solar panels.

Living in a cold state like Maine where winter is usually long and cold, you will most likely generate less energy than you need for your household consumption. And during certain days of the summer, you will likely generate a huge surplus of energy. "This surplus will be transmitted in the national grid and you will get paid for it each month. Don’t you like this idea? This is how you will be able to reduce your electricity bill", according to the study.

Although we know that the main problem with clean energy is that it’s expensive. But as we all know and experience, it is more expensive than the older ways of generating electricity. Everybody see that clean environment is the way to go and yet nobody wants the idea to pay a lot more for clean energy. So this is why governments created incentives for people and businesses like mine to install clean energy generators like solar panels and wind turbines.

Well, at the moment, according to record, “you can find probably the best social panel rebates in the states of California, New Jersey and Hawaii. You can benefit a lot from these rebates especially if you live in these states”. So if you are thinking of slashing huge chunk of money from your expenses, check out the legislation of your state to learn what you have to do to qualify for solar panel rebates and if they are worth it. It’s the best incentives we can have right now and the best thing we could do to Mother Nature!

 

Mood

My boy having a grand time last summer at the beach house where I was working on. He is in a good mood for fishing but eventually bored him so he spent more time swimming with my Sweetie.

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Protection we all need in this highly techie world

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bitdefender for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I signed up for Facebook just recently. Yes, I’m a late bloomer. While my Sweetie had been facebooking since it started, I am just starting to learn the rope. It was not easy I tell you for a 50 [plus] year-old man like me. And boy, I whine a lot about it, so Sweetie asked me why I signed up in the first place. “I want to know what you are about to, that’s why.” I replied. She just laughed knowing in her mind that I am trying to spy on her. But then all she has on her account are her blog updates and family and friends’ whereabouts.

The computers are very important pieces of equipment in our household. I, my Sweetie and my boy would probably get nuts without it. While Sweetie needs it for blogging and making contact with her family and friends back home and of course, online shopping… I need it for my business and bank transactions and yes, a little bit of online shopping too for my hobbies [shhhhh, don’t let my Sweetie know]. And for my boy, he needs it for his “you tube” watching and online video game playing.

That is why keeping a secured network is very important us. It is our top priority to block threats and internet virus that may cause damage to sensitive information we have in our computers.

Having an antivirus technology is one way of doing it. But which one really works? There are lots of antivirus technologies in the market that promise to provide network security. I tried quite a few to be honest with you and I am still in search for a new one because our computer is still vulnerable.

The search is over, perhaps for me now that I found BitDefender – the next generation of the No. 1 ranked antivirus technology. It earned the most coveted CNET Editor's Choice and PCMag Editor's Choice award. This new technology software in the market takes security and privacy to a whole new level.

Bitdefender provides state-of-the-art and user-friendly and proactive protection from computer threats such us viruses, spam, phishing attacks, hackers and more advanced safeguard features that I think are very important as well like online backup, social networking protection for my Sweetie, parental controls for my boy – which is my favorite feature. And for me, the most remarkable feature is Bitdefender’s proprietary secured browser that can safeguard my online transactions and home banking applications from all tampering attempts.

But don’t just take my words for it, make your own investigations. Here are some of the cool features of Bitdefender Total Security that may give you a great impression of the new software:

BitDefender Autopilot: BitDefender operates on its own, without a pop up every 5 minutes. Enjoy your computer experience without constant interruptions

Bitdefender Anti-Theft: BitDefender protects you from more than just online threats; it can track lost or stolen devices!

Social Network Protection: Filters the links you receive from your Facebook and Twitter friends and monitors your privacy settings.

Parental Control Options: BitDefender allows you to block inappropriate content, restrict Web access between certain hours, and it helps you remotely monitor your children's online activity – even on Facebook!

Bitdefender’s 2013 solutions are designed to operate on multiple computer environments, including PCs that function mostly off-line or in a secure LAN, to computers with always-on, unfiltered Internet connections.
And this year also comes with an increased focus on useful services such as Safebox, Device Anti-Theft, and Parental Control, but also on the secure and convenient management of your services – with the new MyBitdefender. Its improved dashboard also allows you to view and even control installed applications and mobile devices.

Convinced now? What are you waiting for, you can get your Bitdefender’s 2013 Antivirus softer from Business  http://www.business2community.… And do you know that you can enter to win a computer installed with Bitdefender here? Act now and so you can get a chance to be a winner.

Raw

In life... we got the vantage point on everything we built. We only need to get different perspective on things.

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My Sweetie is back!

7-weeks is the longest we have been apart since we got married. Yes, my Sweetie went on a 7-week vacation. Funny it was but I do miss her - nagging... whining... and snoring. LOL

Seriously, I miss her face whenever I open my eyes in the morning and I miss her smile before I close my eyes at night.

I miss her voice calling me - Sweetest and her silence when she is pis*ed at me.

And most importantly, I miss her cuddling me before she goes off to work and her non-stop miss call when she is at work.

Now, she is back! And the first thing she said was - I need a vacation! LOL

Now, I don't miss her no more.

Missing my Sweetie

It's almost a month now since my Sweetie left for a long vacation in the Philippines. She has been away from home for 5 long years since she came here in the U.S. It must have been tough for her to get uprooted from the place she known all her life.

My Sweetie's Family in the Philippines

At first she has second thoughts because the airfare is too expensive. But then, I could feel her longing to see her family. So we came up with the money and got her booked. She is spending 7 weeks away from me. It is the very first time that we are apart from each other that long. It is tough for me. I miss her so much.

Thank God for technology. We get in touch through internet again - just the way we used to. And with access to Facebook, I get updated on her whereabouts and activities in the Philippines. It seems that she is indeed having a good time there.

But last night, she told me during out chat that she is now "homesick". I wonder why she would be homesick when she is actually home. Then she told me... "you are my home now Sweetest... I miss home."

My Little Man is a Big Boy Now

I can't believe my boy is already 11 years old. Time flies. Yesterday my Sweetie held a birthday party for my boy. Just like every year it was special and intimate with only my family and closest friends in attendance.

 

Thanks to my Sweetie, she did another great job organizing my boy's birthday party just like what she did with mine.

 

 

And of course to my two wonderful daughter who helped and made an awesome Dino cake.

 

The party was simple yet fun. I just love how my Sweetie came up with the theme which was Brandon's idea. And boy, she did a good job. Thanks Sweetie.

Bonding Time with my Loves

A couple of weeks ago, my Sweetie, my boy and I spent the warm sunny weekend at Kennebunk Beach.

We had a wonderful time fishing, swimming and just bumming out in the beach as we watched the President's boat docked at the Walker's Point where the former President George Bush and wife Barbara's summer house is. President Obama was said to be visiting on the same day.

Although we didn't really see the summer house from where we were, we knew that they were there because some speed boats and choppers patrolling the area.

A gorgeous sail boat cruised around the area. I was guessing, the Ex-Presidents friends and relatives must have been aboard and enjoying the nice weather.

My boy and my Sweetie, had a wonderful time bonding at the beach...

while I had "me time" fishing. I didn't catch any.

 

The day ended with a quick stop at McDonalds. What else? It's my boy's favorite restaurant.