These photos are of the outside pool area at the top deck of the cruise ship. Amazing!
These are of the enclosed glass-ceiling Solarium (pool area at the top deck of the boat.) We spent a lot of our relaxing time here reading. I read the entire "Tipping Point" book by Gladwell. Good stuff.
This weekend was a busy one. On Friday I went with some of the Bogmeisters in support of ht eCranberry Days of Caring. Our community service project was the repair of used eyeglasses for use by an eye doctor who is going to Ghana to help people there with vision problems. He'll do surgeries, and also test people's eyes to see if they need glasses. If they do, he'll give them prescription glasses that are appropriate for their vision needs. We repaired (aligned and cleaned and recorded the lens powers of hundreds of glasses during our brief four hour "service time."
Here are some photos of our time there.
I've also been learning more about Facebook and trying to learn how to get the most out of it. I'm continuing to work my online travel business as a "Leisure Travel Consultant" and look forward to being a "product of the product" as we get ready for our Dream Trip Cruise to Nova Scotia later this month. Can't wait!
Well the last two weeks of September find the Bogmeister chorus setting up shop at the Penn's Colony Festival in Saxonburg, PA. Evidently it's been happening for a very long time. It's like a village of shoppes where people have colonial items and all the vendors (including us) dress in colonial garb for two weekends.
We were fortunate to be asked to take over a "booth, which is really a small permanent hut" called the "Turkey Foot Inn". We sell turkey drumsticks for $5. They are smoked and cooked and then frozen. We heat them up to a hot temperature for serving. We serve them with a square of tin foil and people hot the turkey leg in one hand and gnaw at it. Also on our menu was beef sticks (cheesy, hot and regular beef), we sold three varieties of cheese (smoked swiss, smoked cheddar, and a Kojak. We had root beer, mulled and cold cider and bottled water.
This was all done to raise $ so we can purchase music, bow ties, other uniforms and accessories, and pay the music royalties to the music arrangers for arranging our music, as well as for advertising. We're all volunteer and we have expenses. This will go a long way to help us stay solvent as we share our gift of music with the community. Plus it is lots of fun.
My costume for colonial days was that of a padre. It seems I had a cassock (like a monks robe with hood etc.) that was given to me when I entered the Air Force. Even though I wasn't Catholic, they still gave them to all the chaplains. It's beige linen weave and looks great. I wore a cross with it. (I looked for a hat to match, but no luck yet this year.) Here are some photos (I'm not in these)of our time there the first weekend.
I can't believe it's been a month since adding to this blog. Especially when I used to do it everyday. Hummm. Where does the time go?
Over the weekend I flew to Phoenix AZ for some training as a "leisure travel consultant". It was a dynamic event with lots of energy and wonderful stories of ways people's lives have been changed as they've been able to help others take the dream trips they've only thought about before.
I'd never been to AZ before and so it was an eye opening trip. The terrain is so different from anything here in PA. Here are some photos of where we stayed - the Carefree Resort and Spa, a view from our room and a 180 year old cactus outside the place. Lots of cacti all over. A rally rugged terrian.
The weekend went by very fast but we did get to see some of the area because we stayed 15 miles from the Marriott where the seminars and training were held. Here are some photos of that site...
Life back here in PA is going well. My mom has a new friend who stops by a couple of days a week to visit and she also gets to go to the senior center three days a week via Washington Rides. She seems to be getting more alert and more connected. A gal from the church calls her and has picked her up for worship the last two Sundays which is great.
This weekend our Bogmeisters will have a concession stand (turkey drumsticks) at the Penn's Colony Festival Sept 19-20 and 26-27. I work at the golf course on Sat. and am preaching in Penn Hills on Sunday, so my involvement this weekend will be limited. But it'll be fun.
Whew! it's been awhile. Life has been busy this summer and gotten in the way of adding to this blog. Here's what's happenin'...
Since my mom had her license taken away, I've been going to her place once a week and taking care of the bills as well as other stuff to get her taking her meds in a timely way, doing some grocery shopping and meeting with her social workers and nurses who come to the house to do an assessment of her condition and needs. (Of course mom can't figure why these people come to her place because "she doesn't need anything.")
Anyway as we get our ducks lined up for her to be able to stay in her home, I've been preoccupied with that. Along with calling people and introducing them to our new "Leisure Travel Consultant" business and encouraging them to see the kinds of trips we'll be going on for wholesale prices. See - http://www.aiello.worldventuresdreamtrips.com/ (click third icon down on left labeled "what") Also, to learn about the business side of World Ventures, they watch http://www.aiello.worldventures.biz/ (click button #2) time has been fleeting.
Those two things, plus singing with the Bogmeisters at two events since my last entry along with weekly practices and preaching two of the last three Sundays has kept me going.
Then there is conversations with Kerri and ogling our new granddaughter, Kate. Sending photos back and forth and hearing about how she's growing all round out our lives very nicely.
I just finished reading The Dream Manager, by Matthew Kelly. It should be a must read for all "managers" and people who want to grow both personally as well as in your professional life. It's a fast read and a profound one as well. GET IT, you'll be glad you did.
Dee and I ordered a new laptop computer from QVC and it should finally arrive this week. It's an HP - 17" screen with 4 gig of ram, and 500 gig of memory. Also comes with a blue Ray DVD player and other perks. should be nice.
We're also considering changing our finished basement around some. We've been using it as it was originally set up using the TV cords and speaker cords where we found them. However, we think we'd like to turn things 90 degree angle and use a different wall for the TV. At the far end of the room. It would allow us to have a larger space for television viewing and allow more people to watch it comfortably at the same time. We had two guys come out from "Control Freaks" to give us an estimate and see if it could even be done without bashing through wall or ceiling. They were very helpful and reasonably priced. We'll likely do it as they've suggested. Then we'll have to get come new furniture to go with the new arrangement. (We've been using stuff that we brought with us from NJ and was more suited to the set up there.) We stopped at Room Concepts on route 19 and found some items we thought we could live with, but want to measure and see how the TV looks gains a different wall.
Lots happening but tomorrow Dee and I get to finally go to our own church together and sit in a pew after several weeks of missing our place due to various scheduling conflicts.Our Greater Cranberry Men's Chorus (bogmeisters) sang the National Anthem (barbershop style) on Saturday in Cranberry.( Click photo to enlarge.)
I picked up a couple of more books on Network Marketing - Question Based Selling is actually pretty good, and Your First Year in Network Marketing. They both given me a wider perspective of the ways our business has been run over the years.
What I like about being a Leisure Travel Consultant with World Ventures is that it offers a system of how to invite people to the various presentations. And that someone else actually makes the presentation. My job is just to invite them to either an evening event where a business overview is given in 30 minutes and testimonies are shared by people who've gone on the trips and are making good money in this part-time business, or to a luncheon where the overview is given (as well as testimonies), or to invite them to look at the online overview at http://www.aiello.worldventures.biz/ . The travel industry is exploding right now and 43% of all online ecommerce is travel related. It's a 8 Trillion dollar industry! And there are 10,000 baby boomers turning 60 every day. Many of whom want to travel more for less money. That's what we offer. It's the right industry at the right time (and I don't have to store anything in my garage (vitamins, candles, baskets, juice, cosmetics etc.)) Just point people to my web site and interest other people on this great opportunity to make some significant $ from home part-time. And of course go on these dream trips from time to time ourselves. at ridiculously low prices.
The company has a tremendous training and support system in place. Conference calls a couple of times a week if you choose to listen in and even offer questions when you have them; training sessions locally every other week, video training online, a great manual and workshops every month in a different city around the country. The acceleration workshops are where the action is and Dee and I look forward to going to one soon. The last one was in Las Vegas and there were 1500 people there learning how to grow the business. The one this month is in Denver. Good stuff.
Our Bogmeisters sang on Saturday at the Cranberry Cup Ceremonies. There were a couple of thousand people there. It's a fund raiser for a needy family in the area. They brought the family in on a fire truck with sirens blaring and lights flashing. Afterward we went to some of the businesses in the area to get ads for our concert program. While doing that we sang at some of the stores to customers. Fun.
On the home front my mom is back home. She'll see the visiting nurse today. And on Thursday the social worker will be there with us. We'll begin learning what services she qualifies for and how she's doing. She is no longer allowed to drive her car. I plan to be with her more often as we work through these changes. And the fact that Faye and Jan have experience in this area (navigating insurances and the social work maze) is very helpful as we proceed week by week.
Our granddaughter Kate is doing well and turns 16 weeks old tomorrow. Although we only saw her for a day last week before heading home, it was worth the trip down to spend time with her and to allow Kerri and pat to go out on a date knowing Kate was in good hands.
Wow it's been a week since my last entry. Living sure gets in the way of making entries. I managed to play about 27 holes of golf last week, and hope to go out tomorrow with Russ and some other guys at Aubry's. I've not played there, but I've read about it.
We did sing the National Anthem for the Pirate game on Sunday. That was an awesome experience. We did well. It seems the crowd held of cheering until we sang the very last note and chord before they cheered. (It seems they often start to yell and cheer before groups finish the song - but not on Sunday.) Several people said "That's the way the National Anthem should be sung." Cool.
We're getting ready to host an open house for our new business venture at the Sheraton Four Points on Thursday night. (Several of us are part of a team.) It's going to be quite an event as we give away a dozen or so "free cruises" to the people who come and like what they see and hear.
Today I went to the Cranberry Networking event sponsored by the Chamber and lined up two more people to attend. It's a win/win event as people learn about the great trips at wholesale prices and also about the great business opportunities for people to do on a part-time basis. They can create a supplemental source of income with a little effort on their own time schedule. And there are lots of training materials to help a person get started. We're loving it. check out www.aiello.worldventures.biz if you want to see and hear more.
I've been reading two new books: Never Eat Alone is one on relationships; Thank God It's Monday! is about having fun in the workplace and how to create a culture of fun where you work. So much fun, in fact, that people look forward to going to work on Monday! HA! Good stuff.
Here are some photos of Kate that Kerri sent yesterday. I thought you might enjoy them - we sure have.
Last night was our final practice before singing the National Anthem at PNC Park on Sunday for the Pirates vs. San Francisco Giants game. We'll have about 30 guys singing. A once in a life time experience for sure.
My sister Jan and her husband Mark have stopped by en route to Chicago for the evening. It's always good to see them. They have their new beagle, Dixie, with them. She's a sweet natured gal with lots of personality. Bonz is trying to befriend her. They'll head on out this morning for home.
Saturday was a good day as we recouped after having company for three days. It was great seeing old friends again. Today Dee and I both worked. My work at the golf course was cut short as the rains came in the early afternoon. However, I got in about 7 hours.
I've been listening to the training CDs called Drive Time University by World Ventures. Good stuff with an abundance of insights and good ideas. Also the book "Nave Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi has been enjoyable. The subtitle is "and other secrets to success, one relationship at a time." Good stuff about listening and connecting with people so that you can help them get what they want in life.
It has a been a busy week. Our friends Jim and Susan Merel are here from NJ. They were active members of our church there in Linwood. We went white water rafting with them on Wednesday. Just a perfect day weather wise, and we had an awesome time. I never thought I'd go and do such a thing since I'm not a great swimmer. However, the guide we had in our raft was an awesome guy. He helped us navigate the rapids in fine fashion. Susan fell out once, and the rest of us managed to stay in the raft. There were about 50 people on the trip. About 8 rafts (with 4 people in them) and lots of two-seater kayaks called "duckies."
At first it was a bit intimidating, but as we got into it, we were more relaxed and had a better sense of what to do. I actually found myself looking forward to the next set of rapids and rocks. They guide would serve as the rudder of the raft and we'd paddle as he instructed. There were only two rafts with guides, the rest of the people chose to do it without a guide. Upon looking at the video afterward, I saw that our decision was a good one. Just about every raft capsized at least once.
Afterward we headed home and fund a place to eat in Uniontown. and headed home. the Laurel Highlands White water company did well by us. We rafted the lower riber there at Ohiopyle. It's a category 2-3 in difficulty. That means it descends about 17 feet every mile. Our trip was about 8 miles long and lasted about 4 hours. They had lunch for us midway. It was deli sandwiches and lemonade or iced tea. Adequate. And though Dee was very apprehensive at first, she was heard to say - "Yes, I'd go again."
On Thursday we took our friends to the Strip District in Pittsburgh and visited many of the shops there. We had lunch an a small Italian restaurant called "On the Strip". Very authentic. And then rode the Monongahela Incline to the top of Mt. Washington to see the panoramic view of the city's skyline. Crystal clear day. We walked in to some of the restaurants like Buca and the one in the old train station just to see the decor.
Susan was so take with the old train station, that she suggested we come back there for dinner. We did and it was superb. We sat facing the city at night. The Smithfield Street Bridge was all lighted up as was the city in general. It was a delightful evening of wonderful food and time to relax and visit with old friends.
Today they head back to NJ. Dee goes back to work, and I will be meeting with some friends for lunch. We both work tomorrow (Saturday).
On Tuesday Dee and I celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary. We began the day with a lunch at Sesame Inn in Station Square followed by lessons' on the Segway (a 1 person electric powered personal transportation vehicle). If you've seen the movie Mall Cop, then you know what I'm talking about. Here's Dee just prior to getting on her yellow Segway.
Our lesson was about 25 minutes long riding around in the Station square indoor mall. That was to prepare us for the "tour of Pittsburgh" on our personal vehicles as a group. However, rain prevented that from happening, so we didn't get to go outside. But what we did was fun and we learned we could do it. (The guy gave us our money back.) We walked around the mall, and I discovered that I could use the free wi-fi there to check my email. I had a message from a Bogmeister asking for the phone number of a new guy. I didn't have it, but I called my new Concierge service and they sent it via text message to my cell phone. Then I send that to the Guy who asked for the number. So Cool.
Then we went outside and the rain had stopped, but threatened throughout the next hour with nar a drop. We walked across the Smithfield Street Bridge and went into Macy's and then Saks. Afterward we walked to Market Square and had a coffee at Starbucks. That was followed by a walk to Point State Park where we sat and watched the boats in the rivers and the water fountain spray into the air.
While sitting there, I got out my new Itouch, and discovered that Pittsburgh has an free wi-fi internet service. I signed on. Then I called our new Concierge service and asked for the phone number of the Georgetown in, the address and asked them to send me the menu via email, which I can receive on the itouch. Almost instantly, It was there in my hand for the reading.
We decided to not go there, but rather, we took the subway back to Station Square and then drove to The Church Brew Works for a nice dinner and then headed home. A lot of walking, but a lot of fun. Nice Day.
This is my sister Faye in our kitchen working with her Itouch.
On Thursday my sister flew in from Philadelphia to spend a few days with my mom. I picked her up at the airport and brought her to our place. It was the first time she's been here. We had a great visit chatting, checking out Dee's place of work, and touring our new home. Then we took her to Monongahela for a couple of days with mom. Faye heads back on Sunday morning.
When I mentioned to my sister that Dee and I have become "Leisure Travel Consultants" and that we have our own web pages and an "Online Travel Business", she said "I didn't read about it on your blog." True, we've been busy for the last 5+ days. So here's the scoop.
We went to a luncheon and learned that most people now plan vacations or travel arrangements online (click and order) rather than going to a building call a "travel agency" (brick and mortar). And that the travel industry is one of the largest industries in the world and it's growing as baby boomers (guess who that is) start traveling more.
We would like to start doing some traveling (We even went to get our passports the other day. And World Ventures makes it very affordable. As they say "5 star dream trip vacations at 2 star discount prices." Anyway, we signed on to be Reps. That means we direct people to our websites and World Ventures does the rest.
We actually have several websites with different features.http://www.aiello.worldventures.biz/ will let you know what Dee and I signed on for. (a couple of short videos give you the scoop). If you'd like to learn more let me know and I'll happily point you in the right direction.
http://www.aiello.worldventuresdreamtrips.com/ talks about the dream trips the company has set up for this year (200 of them). Click on the world globe and a world map comes up, then select the part of the world you want to go to and see what is planned. you'll note they give a "best online price" number and then say that "dream trips members will save $x per couple." A dream trips membership is a one time fee of $199 and you save more than that in just one trip. Many people take the dream trips (there may be 50 - 100 people taking it) and rovia will often have a person on board that will coordinate activities or "extras" like parties, champagne in your suite etc they throw in for free.
If there are no trips that interest you, you can go to my page http://www.aiello.rovia.com/ and click on "vacations" or "villas and condos" and check those out. Same price structure there too. See what's out there. This company makes arrangements with all the "timeshares" and brokers them for unused weeks and makes them available at discount rates so you benefit, and the "owners' have someone in their places. It's a good deal.
Go to our www.aiello.rovia.com site and sign in as a PREFERRED MEMBER (it's free).(There's a list of benefits for preferred members.) Check out the site. And, if there is no trip scheduled that you like, or want to go somewhere else in particular, you can click on the "quote request" button at the top of our page and then, fill out the "vacation package request." And send it to them, and they'll get back to you with some suggest details for a great vacation tailored to your requests AND at a much discounted price.
They have a concierge service too that you can use while on the vacation to get directions, get a recipe, find local attractions, locate a restaurant, check the weather, phone numbers, etc. (It's like OnStar and Google only it's on the phone.) (Because Dee and I signed on to be Leisure Travel Consultants, and Reps, we get the concierge service thrown in as a benefit and can use it anytime anywhere.) Cool.
So planning a vacation? Want it to be a "dream trip?" Want it to be affordable? Visit our site and sign in as a "preferred member" and you're on your way to a great trip.
Here's a picture of Kerri at breakfast (Father's Day treat on Friday.) And of course Kate was there to celebrate too. She even got me a "grandfather's card for Father's Day! You'll note Kerri had her hair cut by her Pittsburgh friend "Sergio".
Sunday I went to church and Dee had to work. But we got together for a nice Father's Day dinner at Smokey Bones. Their buy one get one free dinner coupon is great! We've never had a bad meal there.
Later we sat on the deck and enjoyed the nice weather and did some reading. Dee's reading a Grisham book "The Appeal," and I'm reading the training info for the tutorial about being a Leisure Travel Consultant to better understand how our new website works. www.Aiello.rovia.com
Yesterday after Kerri and Kate left for VA, Dee and I went to a luncheon presentation at a local restaurant. One of my "Chamber of Commerce" contacts talked about "How to Travel for a Fraction of the Normal Costs." We liked what he said and signed up with "World Ventures". It's a kind of Sams Club for travel. We especially liked the "Dream Vacations" features. Our new website as "Leisure Travel Consultants" is http://www.aiello.worldventures.com/ or http://www.aiello.rovia.com/ Check it out.
I also thought I'd try "Twitter" and see what that's all about. Should be fun with my new "I touch" gadget.
Here we are having a serious talk abut boys. And we practiced "cooing" to each other. Each time she does it she smiles and seems surprised that she did it. LOL
I was able to get in a round of golf yesterday just as the rain was stopping. I golfed with two other rangers. Jim is 81 (the best golfer of the three) and Dick is 69. They've been rangering a long time. We had a nice time.
Kerri and Kate leave this morning after breakfast at First Watch. Dee and I both work on Saturday so it'll be a busy weekend.
Yesterday I bought a Time Magazine and read an article about Twitter and decided to sign up to give it a try. We'll see how it works. I continue to enjoy my new Itouch. It seems to be able to connect to the web just about everywhere. And I picked up a car adapter at CVS (for $10) that will allow me to recharge it without having to plug it into the computer all the time.
Our visit with Kerri and Kate went well. Kate actually slept through the night each night. And that was something new for her and Kerri.
It's Thursday morning already - been a busy week with Kerri and Kate here. We got a new storm door for the front door. Now we can keep the house door open and still see outside through the window of the storm door. It has a screen in the top half that rolls up and down when needed. Nice for some airflow doing summer days.
Kerri's friend Maureen and her boyfriend came over last night for dinner and a visit to see Kate and Kerri. We ha a nice meal but ran out of propane while cooking the chicken. duh? Dee saved the day by finishing it on the stove. We've been watching the various parts of the John Adams HBO series. Fascinating stuff - we're enjoying it. However, last night the power went off for about 20 minutes. Had to scurry around and find candles light the way. The whole area was blacked out from the storm.
Here's another photo of Kate. She sure is adorable. And becoming quite the coo-er. Coos back and smiles when she does it. Great stuff.
My trip to Kenyon College in Ohio went well. There were about 250 barbershoppers from PA,OH and KY there to take classes and sing. Here's a photo of the dining hall (It's the one with people in it) and of the student dining hall. Impressive.
The classes I took were of a more technical nature this year. Two were on using the computer to create learning CDs with programs called "Audacity' and "Finale". And the third class that I took all day Sat. was on "How to Arrange Sheet Music in the Barbershop Style". I was curious about what the key principles are for doing that. The instructor, Don Gray, has been doing that for 25 years and so he boiled it all down to the basics. There were about 12 of us in the class and we took "You Belong To Me" and worked on making it singable for barbershoppers. It was fascinating to watch the creative process unfold and to consider the hundreds of questions you had to be asking yourself regarding what you wanted to do. Good Stuff.
Here's a photo of Don Gray.
Kerri and Kate are coming to town today. Patrick has work out of town, so she decided to come back to Pittsburgh for 5 days. Can't wait to see them.
