Nashville 2012

Another wonder trip to the music city.

The Gaylord Opryland Complex
Great food!!
Country Music hall of Fame
Wild Horse Saloon
Bar Hopping
Excellent entertainment!!

The Really Big Expo

I look forward to attending the annual Southeast Petro-Food Marketing Exposition in Myrtle Beach each year.  It's an opportunity to get a glance at new technology, spend sometime with some of our business partners and possibly meet some new friends.  The show also offers trade seminars,  a variety of food samples and an occasional celebrity sighting.


Back in the day we took a day to visit the show in Charlotte and run through the show floor glancing at vendors.   The show and missions have changed to include a golf tournament fundraiser, many meetings and a chance to take in a couple of beautiful Myrtle Beach sunrises.

About the show: 
The nation’s largest regional petroleum and c-store show continues the spring date started in 2001. Approximately 1500 buyers attended last year from throughout the southeast. Each year more than 400 exhibit companies offer equipment, products and services to petroleum marketers and convenience store owners and managers. Of course, the latest in products and services will be on display.

The twenty-ninth annual Southeast Petro-Food Marketing Exposition is sponsored by the following organizations:

North Carolina Petroleum & Convenience Marketers
South Carolina Association of Convenience Stores
South Carolina Petroleum Marketers Association
Virginia Petroleum, Convenience & Grocery Association

These four associations boast membership of over 1200 members operating over 10,000 convenience stores and service stations.

My return to the game of golf.

Several years ago I played the game of golf as much as I could, but not frequent enough to become a great player.  I continued because I enjoyed the game and love being outdoors.  Other commitments pulled me away from the courses and I lost what little I had.  I may have played 2 or 3 times during the past 5 years and still had a good time even though my game was terrible. I had given my clubs away a long time ago and the few times I've played since were on borrowed clubs.  I was recently volunteered to play during a fundraiser tournament at Myrtlewood Golf Club in Myrtle Beach SC.  I was honestly glad to have the chance to get back into the game.  This was a fundraiser and I didnt feel any pressure to be great.  I borrowed a set of clubs from a co-worker (The guy who volunteered me to play) and spent a few evenings prior to the trip practicing.  During the night before the tournament I practiced in my backyard with plastic golf balls and felt pretty good about things.

Upon arriving to the golf course we had a good BBQ meal and then set out with three other guys to take a swing at the game.  I learned that one other player has been playing for a very short amount of time and I wasnt worried about being the only person take an occasional miss at the ball.  I had some good hits but still not as consistent as I'd like to be.   By then end of the day, I felt that I had played a decent game considering that I had not played in a long time.  We had a great time and the course was beautiful.  We had wonderful weather and I didn't sacrifice too many golf balls to the many water hazards throughout the course.    Somehow a cart died on the final hole and we had to push it back to the clubhouse. This was a huge laugh to top off the day.  The night before was the 1:00 am Daytona 500 Nascar race and we decided that bump drafting the cart around the course was appropriate. I was happy that our team finished with a score of 79. 

I am determined to keep the game of golf scheduled and add a new set of clubs to my list of toys this year.  Until then, my friend is letting me keep his old clubs so I can get some frequent practice.

Long exposure time.

I am traveling to Seven Lakes, NC after a couple of evening photo sessions and the multiple lights of a feed mill on Highway 211 catch my eye.  As with many scenes I think to myself that this could make a nice photo, but I continue driving.  During the next 2 miles I am still thinking about the feed mill.  I have my gear with me and  am not rushing to another appointment.  I make a u-turn and head back to the feed mill location.  As I drive by I scope out a decent area to pull off the road to setup a tripod with camera. Conditions were great.  No moisture in the air and there wasn't any haze from the mill around the structure.   I dial in my camera settings, click the remote and wait for the photo to be captured.   After 5 or 6 shots I felt good about the results on the screen and packed my gear and continued my journey.    I've also included a few more long exposure photos that I have captured in the past.  I enjoy setting up a camera and tripod to capture some night time shots.  I like to capture the sparkle form the lights and as much detail as possible.

Perdue feed mill, Bensalem, NC

Perdue feed mill, Bensalem, NC

Cemetery, downtown Columbia SC

Downtown Columbia SC

Christmas decoration, Downtown Rockingham, N.C.

4th of July fireworks, Rockingham, N.C.

Rare snowfall at Harrington Square, Rockingham, N.C.

Disney Hollywood Studios, Florida

Washington Street, downtown Rockingham, N.C.

Pinterest. The new web addiction.

Facebook was in all of the headlines last week with the highly anticipated IPO announcement and reports of the large group of new millionaires to be born of the company.  This week a new website, Pinterest, has stolen some of the online attention.  Pinterest is exploding in many ways.

What is Pinterest? The websites explanation is a bit outdated:

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and share their favorite recipes.

Pinterest is fast becoming more than an organization website.   The news this week states that Pinterest is now the fastest growing site for referral traffic.  Several months ago Pinterest wasn't close to being in the top ten referring websites.   Now they have surpassed many sites to move to the top 5.  They have more referrals than YouTube, Google+, Linkdin and Myspace combined.  Yes, Myspace is still in the top ten.

What make Pinterest so exciting and hot?  Before I give my two cents I will confess that I am an addict.  I love food, traveling, new technology and photography.  I can find pics and info for all four on Pinterest with little effort.  With this said, the ease us use is why I think that Pinterest is collecting the eyes of millions of monthly visitors.  Eyes on a website equal increased value and potential investors. they may be positioning themselves for an early buyout.  I do not doubt that Facebook and Google are looking at the possibilities of buying this website before the other if made available.  It will be interesting to see what happens during the next year or even months.

 Whats the catch?

This is something that I was trying to figure out, because there are no ads and signup is as simple as receiving an invite.  the catch as described by blogging site LLSocial.com, if a user submits a pin that links to an e-commerce site with an affiliate program, then Pinterest tweaks that link to add tracking code for the affiliate, according to the report. If someone clicks on the image and actually buys something from the affiliate, Pinterest gets a cut of the sales, LLSocial.com said.   This is not an unusual practice from websites so don't be alarmed.

As I said above Pinterest is still an invitation-only network and is still in it's beta stages.  Something is going very right with this website.  If you are not on Pinterest you will want to check it out. Send me an email for an invite.  otherwise the waiting period from the site could be lengthy.


 I'll continue pinning my favorite photo, gadget, food item and destination photos.  I also hope that my wife remains addicted to the recipes so she will continue making some great treats like the Cookie Dough dip below.

Hula hoop moments.

I like to enjoy myself and have fun when possible.  The recent Arts Richmond Fire and Ice Gala gave me a chance to follow many other people to take a hula hoop for a spin.  It's not everyday that I get a chance to act like a kid and I was able to keep the large circular tube floating around my waist long enough to be satisfied with the attempt.  Did I care that someone else had my camera aimed at me?  No.  It was too much fun to worry about anything else taking place around me.

During a little research about the 1950's fad I found a scientific study titled:  "Kinetics of hula hooping: An inverse dynamics analysis"   This paper involved a biomechanical analysis of lower limb joint coordination during hula hooping. A lower extremity inverse dynamics model that incorporated kinematic input and force platform data was developed to compute the angular velocities, moments about and powers produced at the lower extremity joints. The abductor moments and powers were discovered to be paramount in maintaining hoop oscillations, as demonstrated consistently in the three study participants. However, hula hooping was demonstrated to be variable in terms of the involvement of flexor and extensor moments and powers of the ankle, knee and hip joints, resulting in the adoption of varying strategies by each of the three participants.

After reading the above and stopping myself from continuing the 14 page study, I realized that if I had concentrated on the scientific methods instead of just having fun, the experience would not have been as memorable.  The purpose was to full fill my desire to laugh for a few moments.  It was another chance to enjoy life and take advantage of an opportunity.

I saw proof during church today that anytime is a good time to enjoy life.  A little girl on the pew in front of me was in her own world.  First she was determined to hold a hymnal and sing even though she didn't know the words. She was smiling, singing her own tune and enjoying it.   Later during the service she accidentally burped, but kept her laughs to a minimum.  Next, she decided that she needed to produce a few fake sneezes.  Very cute in my opinion and not distracting from the sermon in process.  Finally she knew when it was time to prepare to leave as she opened her mothers purse to plunder just before throwing it over her shoulder as it was time to walk out. 

After watching the little girl play and be herself with dozens of people around, I realized that I had the opportunity to do the same thing with the hula hoop.  I hope to have many more hula hoop moments in the future.

Northern Tool + Equipment. A mans store?

If you like to build, disassemble and rebuild things, then Northern Tool + Equipment is a store that you should visit.  Northern Tool + Equipment is not an appliance store or parts outlet.  They have tools, and lots of them.  They also have equipment to use the tools with and many varieties of specialty products.  I  have visited the Rock Hill, S.C. location often and find some interesting items.

I think of Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor when walking through the store and seeing various items from small to extra large and powerful! Grunt!   Need a hand truck?  How about more than a dozen to choose from with a few that could move a house! Grunt!  Grab a set of 4 industrial wrenches weight in at 30 lbs and sized up to 2 1/2" Grunt! Grunt!  Dozens of wheel sizes, submersible pumps, industrial pressure washers, deluxe meat tenderizers, bargain bins, solar panels, trailer hitches, toilet mugs, chain saws, air compressors....10,000 item catalog!  aah!! ' Hmmm!!! Grunt!  Yes, this could be considered a mans store full of toys to repair damage or do some damage.

One online review: "They seem to cater to large workshop/rancher/farmer types as compared to average homeowners."  I somewhat agree that Northern Tool + Equipment could easily become a farm supply and does have most industrial needs covered.  However, I have found several items to use from a heavy duty wagon to a small pry-bar set. I just like to go in a look around. The place is a huge toy store.

The official description: Since 2001, the Northern Tool + Equipment store in Rock Hill, South Carolina has been supplying the residents of South Carolina with a large selection of portable generators, pressure washers, water pumps, power tools, welding equipment and many more quality equipment products. This along with an extensive line of emergency storm supplies, makes the Rock Hill Northern Tool + Equipment retail store a convenient destination in preparing for and recovering from the might of Mother Nature.