well, let's be honest. when you live in the Valley of the Sun "cold" is all "relative" as Ben Shaffer might say. tonight, it's supposed to dip into the mid-30's and create frost in Chandler. uncool. so, i pulled out our old (and by old I mean we still may use them for us and guests) sheets and threw them over our plants.

the picture to the left is out on our porch with our hibiscus 'n shit covered up to protect it from the frost!

i do miss the snow. just three hours north, in flagstaff, they have over two feet of snow downtown and 60 inches on the mountain. i want to go there after the holidays! i realized today that i have not snow skied in over four years and that is unacceptable. i love to snow ski.

to the east of phoenix are the white mountains. it was crazy because today when i was driving to the office and it was 60 degrees - off the right were the white mountains. the peaks were snowcapped. interrupting my view were palm trees. it's not often you'd expect cacti and palm trees to be in the view of snow capped mountains. nice!

also, i am sure you want to see our apartment decorated this holiday season:
















i took that tonight. pay no attention to the tv. i love my new TiVo my parents got me for my birthday! my life is now complete. it is now, but it won't be fully complete until they come out here for the INSIGHT BOWL on New Year's Eve. nice plug.

anyway, i hope to be more "better" at adding posts to our blog. it's not cool that we don't continue to add.

wish me a "Happy 29th Birthday" tomorrow!

Idiotic.

Wow.  Tonight, after spending a few hours with a friend of mine (with whom I still will consider a friend - I learned a lot from him tonight) it amazes me how people can try and make things so simple that they become ridiculous.  I do not apologize that shit in this world is not cut-and-dry.  I do not apologize that certain people believe one thing and others a different thing. 

What saddens me is when people FEEL something and then change their life on what others have imposed upon them.  They burn and hurt others in their wake.  Loved ones.  New acquaintances.  Friends.  Complete strangers.

That doesn't sadden me, it pisses me off.  And then, those people who changed too much of what their nature says is correct, in-turn throw their beliefs upon others and choose not to take others' points of view.

In my overall-unimportant opinion, this is the shit that makes the world go-around way less efficiently and more abrasively.

Love one another.

Do good for others.

This shit'll keep moving towards the greater good.

Oh yeah ... new brewery in town!

Fantastic, a new brewery just opened up across the golf course from us on the town square.  The damn sign has been up since April and we've been excited every since.

The owner is the formal brew master at Four Peaks, a highly regarded brewery in Tempe.  Since I am a loner sometimes

, I was at the bar by myself when I shot this picture to the left.

The service sucked but I overheard the bartender talking about how he hasn't bartended in over two years.  So, I cut him some slack on his first day back.  But shouldn't it be like riding a bike?

The place was packed last night - they opened at 5 PM for the first time last night.  I drove by around 9 PM thinking I could run in for a late dinner but evidently everyone already knew it was opening up!  

The place is actually in the building of the first bank in Chandler, Arizona that dates back to 1920.  It has an older feel to it that you don't usually get here in the West unless you are in California.  Phoenix, after all, is a new town even by American standards.  Anyway, the benches at the front of the place are actually the old Safe-Deposit Boxes.  Next to the bathrooms, there is the old vault ...

... and inside the vault is the manager's office.  I think it would've been cooler to make it "The Vault" and a private party room or something.  But I always have these amazing ideas.  Maybe it was too small in there - I don't know.

So, that is what I did today on this very nice Sunday afternoon.  Didn't even make it up to 90 today and the humidity is GONE until next June!  WOO HOO!

Indiana University Basketball Intro

Remember this? Ahh, memories. They should bring this back!

Calvin The Dog

It was a crazy weekend for Calvin the Dog - and for us!  On Saturday morning, Calvin was not getting up at all and was very lethargic.  When we finally got him up he would not eat or drink which is highly unusual!  His eyes just didn't seem right so we called the vet to see if we could bring him in - but they were booked until Monday morning.  They said if he does not eat or drink to take him to a pet hospital near us.

So, we got him up because we knew he needed to use the restroom.  Stacey got him outside and then I hear a scream from Stacey, 'Brad get out here!'  I went out to see Calvin on his side in the rocks.  She said he toppled sideways over.  He was very stiff and his legs extended.  Stacey ran in to put on some clothes (she was still in boxers/sleep clothes, not naked) and I stayed with C.  He was totally unresponsive but still breathing.  He flipped violently on to his stomach and then just kind of sat there.  I thought it was either a stroke or a seizure.

We carried him to the car and took him to the vet who agreed to see him.  He had to be carried in to the vet and when told her what happened she agreed it was most likely a seizure.  She recommended X-Rays and blood work to determine exactly what was wrong.  We sat in the room for an hour debating having some  or all of the tests or 'putting him down' even though neither of us wanted to admit it.  He could not get up at all because he has horrible hips as most dogs his size and breed do.  We kept going back and forth but decided to have the tests done and we left to leave him until 1:30 PM.  They said if they found something on the X-Rays they would stop early and give us a call.

At 12 Noon we got a call saying they were done - so we assumed the worst.  When we got there we were expecting to make the decision to put him down.  To our surprise, both the blood work and X-Rays showed nothing and came back normal!  He had been shot up with some steroids to ease his recovery from the seizure and was walking around to the praise of us and the vet staff!

Two days later it's like he's realized he had a near-death experience and is strutting with more spunk in his step than in some time!  Calvin is the 'True Godfather' of all canines!

Smart Car Sighting!

Yes, there it is in plain sight from my balcony!  A SMART CAR!

What is a SMART CAR you may ask?  It's a miniature car that is only a two-seater with a little cargo room behind.  It's basically a supped-up go-cart!  It gets great gas mileage and is becoming all the rage in cities like New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego and here in Phoenix because you can get around easily to shop, dine and run errands without spending much on gas.  Also, these cars can park in small spaces which makes it even better for more developed urban areas.

Anyway, I always like to see these things.  You can read about them here.

Cow Bone Lodged In Foot

Yes, that's an X-Ray taken today of my beautiful foot.  In between the second and third toe there is a small piece of cow bone that was lodged about a half an inch in.  If you double click on the picture it will load larger ...

How? I am glad you asked ...

About three weeks ago I was hopping into bed and instead of a pleasant entry into my comfy bed I was pierced in the foot by a smoked cow bone - a chewing toy for Hoosier the Dog that was purchased earlier at Cosco.

Well, after some home surgery, I was fairly sure I removed the piece from my foot.  It still smarted for a couple of days but the overall pain subsided.  Next, a large callus formed on the bottom of my foot.  Not cool, but in shoes I was fine and eventually sandals were cool again too.

Since I was in Fort Wayne for the past week and a half I wasn't too concerned as there were other things on my mind and it really didn't hurt.  In fact, when I got back to Arizona I worked out twice.  While in Indiana, I even went running - although it was slightly painful.

So, I figured if it's been three weeks I should see if the son-of-a-bitch was still lodged in there.  After all, there is not use in going through life with a cow bone lodged in your foot!  

This morning I went to the Urgent Care/Medical Spa/Chiropractic Clinic.  Yes, it's all three.  I was pretty impressed slash a little worried.  I mean if you can walk-in without an appointment, get the gash taken care of from your fall off the ladder, then go have your achy back looked at an x-rayed and then go get a photo-facial - there may be some issues with having my foot looked at.

Nonetheless, I went there and they took an X-Ray.  Low and behold, there was a piece of cow bone in my foot.  The young (and I mean he may have been my age or a year younger) doctor proceeded to stick a needle in my foot to numb it.   Not once, not twice, not thrice - but FOUR TIMES!  Why?  Because after the first two times he didn't do it well enough and I was feeling some pain.  So, because sticking a needle in the bottom of your foot is not the most pleasant experience and I moved - I got stuck two more times.  Fun.  Don't worry, the story gets better.

After about twenty minutes of 'digging' for the cow bone, the doctor finally gave up.  He said he had already gone in 'about a quarter of an inch and I'd be uncomfortable going in any further not being a specialist.  I am going to have to refer you to a Podiatrist.'  Great.  Lucky for me, they had an appointment at 1:15.

From the Urgent Care I went and had lunch.  I had a nice slice of pepperoni pizza from a new place in Fulton Ranch that I read about in the local newspaper (think Aboite And About).  I also had a small wedge salad (I love wedge salads) and a tall beer.  I mean, if you know you are going to have another doctor stick your foot with a needle and slice you open, you might as well enjoy a beer in between doctor's offices!

After picking up my antibiotic prescription from Walgreen's (which of course is on a corner at a decent intersection) I proceeded on to the Podiatrist who resided in Val Vista Spectrum - not too far from where we would like to purchase a house!

The Podiatrist went ahead and looked the X-Rays and said he'd give it a try.  Yes, you guessed it - another needle was stuck in my foot.  "It will be a slightly painful stick in your foot and then just some pressure."  Yeah, fuck you Dr. Podiatrist.  It was more like a chain saw with knives attached coming at my foot.

After the first needle, the doctor 'shaved some dead skin' aka 'the callus' from my foot.  As he did this he noticed I was still jerking around so he said, 'I hate to do this but I need to numb it more so you aren't feeling this.'  So, this is "Needle in the Foot #6" for the day!  He then proceeds on starts slicing my foot open.  As he gets deeper he notices I am twitching and then says, "Wow, your body must eat this stuff for dinner!  You have a high tolerance for drugs."  Then I get needle #7 which was little pain but numbed up the better half of my foot.  He said he put as much in that needle as he had in the others.  My foot now felt happy.

About ten minutes later he finally says, "It's your lucky day!  I got it!"  In his tweezers was a centimeter long piece of bone that was over a half inch in my foot just clearing any tendons or important muscle.  He said I was lucky that it didn't go any deeper.

So, that was my exciting news for the day! 

I'm coming home, to the place that I belong ...

Well friends and family ... I will be home August 25 - 29th.  Why?  Well, it's been ten years since I graduated high school.  Wow.  It really makes you either feel "awesome" or "not-so-awesome."  I think I feel somewhere in between.  

I have changed quite a bit since high school.  I am more outgoing I think - but not as outgoing as I'd like to be.  I am better at handling confrontation - but not as good as I'd like.  I still have the same dog, Calvin, but Stacey and I take care of him now instead of pawning him off on my parents (which was horrible of us, what the shit?).  We have a new dog, Hoosier, who is the shit!  I have less hair just past my forehead, gray hair on the sides and hair where I don't want it.  

Stacey and I went from high school sweethearts to ex-lovers to husband and wife.  We bought a house.  And sold it.  Together we've lived in five cities - which is a new city every two years... which gives great value to my mom's statement: "you'll end up moving from Phoenix to somewhere else within the next few years."  But, I think we are pretty content here.  Especially since the house we really, really want has dropped $20,000 in the past month.  Can I get a "hells yeah!"  Besides the dreadful summers we both love it here.  But, we miss our families.

I've had quite a few jobs since June 1997.  I worked at Anastasia's, Joe's Crab Shack (Fort Wayne), Texas Roadhouse (Bloomington), some bagel place (Bloomington), a steakhouse (Bloomington), Centennial Wireless (Columbia City - what up!), Verizon Wireless (Fort Wayne and Cincinnati), AT&T Wireless (Fort Wayne) which turned into Cingular Wireless (Fort Wayne), Beazer Homes (Fort Wayne and Phoenix), Realty Executives (Phoenix) and Cingular Wireless which turned into AT&T (Phoenix).  I guess some stuff just comes back around!

I attended college for half of the ten years.  But only have a bachelor's to show for it.  But, I am in the school of 'you learn more from the real world than school.'  However, I've been teaching myself, from a book, how to design websites.  I am pretty impressed and have more to learn.  Check out www.bradshaffer.com for a website that I am developing for the IU Alumni Association Phoenix Club.  The final website will be www.hoosiersinaz.com.

I've really only had three cars: The Eagle Talon, the 'Nastima and Jack the Jeep.  I really enjoy Jack the Jeep butt hold a special place in my heart for 'The Eagle' and the 'Nastima.  Afterall, the 'Nastima brought me from one side of country to the other.

I've travelled much more than I think I ever thought I would.  And much of it is recent.  When I graduated high school I had never been to too many place.  Since then I've been to New York City five times or more, seen Maine, been to Jamaica - once to get engaged and once to get hitched, been to Seattle and now live in Arizona - a place I have always wanted to live.  

So what will the next ten years bring?  Who knows!  There are some things I'd like to dismiss from the past ten years but not much.  I think most things have taught me about life, people, relationships and helped to form me into who I am today.  

If I had to create a wishlist of what 2007 - 2017 will bring, here it is:

• More travel.  Stacey and I love to travel.  I love to see how other people live.  In 2017 I hope I can say I've seen the vineyards of France and Italy, surfed in Australia, shared a pint with an Irishman in Ireland and seen Buckingham Palace.
• Family Time.  We both miss our families.  I hope the next ten years brings more time with both families.  Whether its in Fort Wayne, Florida or some other fantastic locale.  Family time can be wherever - we are just down for more of it.  Of course, Stacey and I are a great family ourselves.  I hope that continues to grow and strengthen.
• Financial Fun.  I don't need to be ridiculously rich.  But, the more the merrier.  Money doesn't bring happiness but it sure as hell brings stability and a great level of freedom.  I hope to grow my real estate career and whatever careers I think I could be great at.  A part of me still thinks I am finding what my niche is, but I know it's in real estate and development.  It all goes back to me drawing detail blueprints when I was young.
• Friends, friends, friends!  I love my friends.  Both the ones I had ten years ago and the ones I have now.  I hope to make new ones and keep the current ones.  Besides family, friends are the best thing.

Well, here is my 'Shit! I am going to my 10-Year High School Reunion Next Week' blog post.  I hope you enjoyed it!  

monkey bread on sunday!

can i get a "hells yeah?"

and here's car wash man's sweet ride

best car wash - ever

so the cheap $4 car wash i use has the best owner. he is "of retired age" and is always there. even for the automatic wash he comes out and greets you and gives you a drying rag. today, as you can see, he was relaxing on his chair anxiously awaiting customers. he rules.

don't mess with the lebaron!

tarbucks

while driving home from dinner at Trader Vic's tonight at the Hotel Valley Ho (www.hotelvalleyho.com) ... we saw this erroneous Starbucks Coffee sign.

Obviously, they have now given away the secret ingredient in their coffee ... it's been so obvious for so long!

Hey Ya'll

Well, it's been fairly uneventful here.  Stacey has been in Las Vegas the past five nights/six days.  Poor soul was staying at The Venetian the whole time and complained that 'the partying just got to be too much.'  Don't we all wish our jobs had that issue?

But, she's back for a whole week and a half!  I have been diligently working away at a new business plan for myself, which shall be debuted shortly.  

We have been having great storms here in the Valley of the Sun.  It's awesome... I think better than last year!  The storms are pretty much continuous every evening with great lightning and decent downpours.  North Scottsdale had entire roads torn away the washes got so full from the mountain run-off flowing downhill.  Cars were totally submerged in grocery store parking lots.  I guess this is our version of hurricanes and tornadoes.  Otherwise, it always sunny and nice!  I never thought I'd say, "Gee, it sure is nice that it's cloudy today ... it won't be so harsh out."  Now, if it's a non-working day, then I still always hope for the sun.  But it's rare in Arizona that we don't hit over 100 in the summer and it's been below 100 for the past four or five days and I am loving it ... but the humidity has been insane and similar to the midwest.

Anyway, enough about the weather.  I need to get to bed.  I have an exciting seminar on FHA Loans at 8:30 AM in Mesa.  Wonderful.

No mas?!

So, my new neighbor-friends and I are at the pool after work today and I am like, "we should get this rotisserie chicken from the mexi-grocery store."

story:  there is a mexi/hispanic grocery store about two miles from us that freakin' rules!  it has AMAZING rotisserie chicken.  you get an entire rotisserie chicken with a STACK of freshly-made tortillas and salsa for only $5.99.  Yes, a meal that can feed a family for less than $6.  It almost makes you want to remember back to the Arby's commercial of "5 for 5."  

Anyway, I drive to go get said rotisserie chicken, walk-in to said mexi-grocery and walk-up to unsaid mexi-grocery-non-english-speaking-counter and say, "no mas pollo ?"  the delightful lady on the other side of the counter confirms that there are not rotisserie chickens.  AYE DE MI!  QUE LASTIMA!  QUE PENA!

Anywhooooooosle, the above picture is in the mexi-grocery.  They have a fantastic area where everyone eats and the soothing mexi-music plays over the loudspeaker.  I freakin' love this place!  Great food, friendly people and a rush for good rotisserie chicken, evidently.

the ring of fire

of course, it should be understood that mobile blogging also may mean adult-beveraged blogging. sweeeeeeet.

at the game

seven rows from the grass in left field. not bad, eh?

d'backs game

tonight i am going to an arizona diamondbacks game with my friend jay. he used to work with me but was smart and went elsewhere! i have never been to a diamondbacks game and haven't been to a MLB game since college. should be fun!

the clouds are building up!

here are the monsoon storms building up!

tropical(owe)

so i spent three hours at the car wash today to get my jeep shampooed and detailed. i figured it could use some TLC. they told me it would take one and a half to two hours and it took three. i guess it saved me a tip.


you see, after i took hoosier to training i thought, "hey, my car is dusty and needs a wash!" right when we got in the car wash i though, 'crap, hoosier is gonna FREAK OUT!' and sure enough he did. he jumped from the front seat into the back cargo area and then, what else, pissed all over the back. so, my jeep needed a good shampooing!


but, the rain clouds started piling up here and they had really bad storms and flash floods in north phoenix today but it never rained here in chandler. jack's wax job still looks good!



the weather is very tropical here now that the monsoon has started. the winds shift from the east to the south and pull in mexican moisture and we have great lightning and downpours. I LOVE IT!

Hoosier @ training

ethiopian fun

while bored at lunch today i looked through the pictures on my mobile and saw this one. its wall art at an ethiopian restaurant i went to with our upstairs neighbors a few weeks ago.

the lady that owns the place likes to play gags on her customers but her signs, like the one above, were awesome.

by the way, "tina's ethiopian cafe" was really good. next time i go i will take a picture of the exterior. it is really scary. you ate with your hands and picked the food up with a pancake/crepe type item. who knew ethiopians had enough food to have their own category of fare, let alone had god food?!!?

the office

better blogging

You can't always assume what you've been doing is the best simply because that's what you've been doing, eh? After starting a real estate blog on another blog service I decided to give this service a try and I rearry, rearry like it!

If you want automatic updates, be sure to enter your email address in the 'Subscribe via email' box at the top right of the blog. You'll get a confirmation email and all you have to do is hit the link to confirm. After that, whenever we post new stuff to our blog you'll get an automatic email. It's simple.

possible new fav

I just went to lunch at Cibo ... it was really good! It is supposed to be similar to Pizzeria Bianco and it really was only a little less classic and a little more modern.

Check it out at www.cibophoenix.com

Mobile Blogging

With this new blog we can mobile blog ... or as my parents might say, "mo-beal." So, I took this picture and have typed this on my mobile ... sweet, imagine the possibilities.

Homes We Like

We have been looking at new homes the past couple of weeks. We have most likely decided to move to Gilbert. Gilbert is right next to Chandler only a little more east. The housing development we like best, so far, is called 'Lyon's Gate' - not the best name if you ask me. But, the development will have an Elm Tree in front of every home. The medians as you enter the community also have Elms Trees to eventually create a shady canopy in a couple of years as the trees mature.

CLICK HERE to see the home in Lyon's Gate.

CLICK HERE to see a home we found in South Phoenix. This home was perfect. It had a huge kitchen that was open to the dining room, nook and family room. The windows were so major as was the amount of cabinet space. You know you are getting older when you talk about cabinet space and windows. The development is located on South Mountain in Phoenix which means the largest municipal park in American is at your back door for hiking, biking and various other outdoor activities. Your backyard has the mountain and nothing else beyond the fence sight-line and your front yard overlooks the entire Phoenix Valley. Sadly, the homes way out of our price range. But, it was nice to plan for the future. ;)

While we are on the subject of homes and developments, check out the following... for those of you in Indiana, my Uncle, Aunt, Cousin and her husband are creating 'The Bridges' housing development in Ossian, IN. CHECK IT OUT HERE on 21Alive. Long live Melissa Long.

What do you think of the logo I created for myself.  I am reassessing my real estate business and am trying to create a 'brand identity' if you will.  And I think you will.

I thought this logo was simple yet brought in the aspects of the Phoenix Valley - mountains, sun and cacti!  

What do you think?  

New Blog?

Well, I am thinking about changing our blog to this site ... blogger by Google. Why? It's free. And free is always good. It may not look as super cool, but I can still share all the pictures, fun and more.

What do you think?

On the right you will find most everything you need ... links to other websites, links to pictures and even a survey that I can change. So, vote, read and enjoy.