Catching Up

Here is a recent photo of Kate.

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.

Visiting with Friends from Out of Town

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).

Our 38th Anniversary Day

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.

We're Now "World Ventures" Leisure Travel Consultants!

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.

Father's Day

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

World Ventures Reps

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.

Kate and Kerri head Home Today

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.