Justin Germino Ramblings

For the second year in a row I will be ringing in the New Year in Las Vegas with some family friends of my wife and I. They have invited us up to stay in their condo and this year it will be much more low key as compared to last year where we actually partied on the Strip which was packed with hundreds of thousands of people ear to ear. We also couldn’t see any of the fireworks from the strip because the crowd was so thick and they have to launch the fireworks away from the hotels, that the strip is actually not a great place to be if you want to see the fireworks.

It is a weekend getaway with my wife while Grandma watches the kids, we will eat some good food, maybe gamble a little just for the heck of it and enjoy a few days with just adults and without children which is always a breath of fresh air, as no matter how much I love my kids, it sucks the energy out of you to be around little ones all the time. They constantly demand attention and need guidance and patience and you can really run ragged without a break every so often.

-Justin Germino

It is funny how a movies from over two decades ago can have the same longevity with families like Ghostbusters, this new Wii game does a great job of taking you through the original movie while still treading on new ground. The game takes place five years after the original Ghostbusters and all of the original characters are there, Ray, Peter, Egon and Winston to guide the new “recruit” who is played by your character an eager Ghostbuster in training.

The game captures the feel of Ghostbusters and is far more enjoyable if you have a buddy to play with, I only played the game with my 6 year old son who was the 2nd player and helped me wrangle ghosts, destroy gargoyles and torch the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. When you fire your beams at ghosts you drain their life and have to slam them in different directions to weaken them enough to set the traps and capture them. The wrangling part is the most fun in the game and very much looks and acts like when they wrangled the spirits in the movies series.

Surprising is the voice acting in the film is done by all the original cast of Ghostbusters, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson all reprise their roles as the Ghostbusters and help guide you along. The commentary is witty and I particularly think Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis did the best job with the voice work, Bill Murray was funny but was a little more stifled and sluggish in his portrayal of Peter, but I found myself laughing at all the puns and banter that was very reminiscent of the original film. My six year old has never even seen the Ghostbusters film and enjoyed it, with my three year old watching us play the entire time.

The game is relatively short, but is incredibly fun to play two player as you both wrangle Ghosts together. This alone lets it keep its value if you have a bunch of friends and you enjoy teaming up to play the game together. I had a blast playing it and being a rookie Ghostbuster. Ghostbusters is highly recommended for a unique Wii game experience and for Ghostbuster fans.

-Justin Germino

I was reading in Popular Science about a new institution and team of researchers and scientists who are striving to achieve the capability to transfer human consciousness to a computer by the year 2045. The first goal is to achieve true artificial intelligence and then to see if a human conscious can be transferred and stored inside a computer system or robot which would technically be reaching immortality at the price of the human physical body. I was discussing this with my wife on the choices one would make and if this became something that people can purchase (and was within the average price range), would you choose to merge your intellectual mind into a computer system at the expense of losing your physical form?

Realistically who is to say we deserve immortality, perhaps the highest intellectuals and true brilliant minds of the world come close to deserving such preservation but why become immortal? Would you want to attain it for the fear of what exists after you are deceased? In my case, I would want to see the technological breakthroughs of the future, live to see what other worlds look like and the future technology of centuries beyond. I mentioned this to my wife who also reminded me that you are much more likely to witness horrors and atrocities at such a scale, there may not be a society far into the future.

If your mind existed in a computer, you wouldn’t have hormones, chemicals and all the physical and natural elements that make up mood and influence how people think. Without these factors would you really be conscious or just a collection of memories and thoughts? Imagine never being able to smell, feel, taste, desire…etc from losing a physical form. My wife made it absolutely clear that giving up “Humanity” is not worth it, however if conscious could be transferred from one body to a genetically cloned one of your own DNA, thereby preserving youth and vigor this might be a path she would be willing to take.

This again points out, why? Why should people who think they deserve immortality be granted immortality? It would be selfish for me to want it, but I would want it just because I am curious and want to explore the infinite future. What are your thoughts on immortality? Is this a sin that mankind should avoid? Is this destined to never be achieved? Or do you think individuals will eventually be able to “exist” forever in some state or another for a price?

Which would you choose?

-Justin Germino

Porky our Boston Terrier was a bad dog on Christmas Eve and this is a pretty funny story. My kids and their mom had worked on making raspberry filled sugar cookies during the day and all but six were given to my in-laws as a treat. The six that were left behind were put on a Christmas plate and supposed to be left out for Santa on the ottoman near the Christmas Tree and couch. So the kids put the cookies out on the ottoman and we went to tuck them into bed to say goodnight.

By the time my wife and I arrived downstairs after just tucking in the kids, the plate was overturned on the floor and not a cookie was left in site. A black and white boston terrier stood there with a sheepish “Oh, SH!T I’m in trouble look on his face” and we couldn’t help but laugh more than be upset. The dog in the span of a few minutes consumed every cookie on the plate and enjoyed it immensely. Meanwhile I never did get to eat those cookies I was hoping to have that night. (Good thing I had two of them earlier in the day, or I wouldn’t have even known what they taste like).

-Justin Germino

The play room was literally a minefield of toys all decked out and battling against each other as my two sons and their Dad played for about 4 hours straight with all the action figures in the room. My two favorite toys this year that Santa brought the kids are the PlayMobil Royal Ship Of Egypt which was a pain to put all the stickers on, but the real canvas sail and the spring loaded ballista were a really nice touch and the Star Wars Octuptarra Droid which stands almost as tall as my three year old and has an awesome 3 legged spider / octopus type of look.

This one has 3 spring loaded rocket launchers that shoot really far, but they are very small and thin and easy to lose under furniture. All in all I have to say I haven’t had so much fun playing with toys since I was a child and this is one of the best things about having kids is being able to get down and play with toys again.

-Justin Germino

I speak from experience when I talk about eating oatmeal and telling readers that if you eat the same thing day after day you will grow bored with the flavor and be tempted to eat more unhealthy food for breakfast.  Irish Steel Cut oatmeal happens to be my favorite and among the most “grain” flavored when you boil it and serve it plain.

Some of the following tips are ways you can spice up the flavor of oatmeal while still keeping it healthy and by changing up flavors every few days you can stave off the fatigue and boredom that comes with eating the same thing over and over.

The most popular is to cut up fresh fruit and mix it in with your oatmeal, you probably have heard or thought of chopping up banana, apples, strawberries and tossing them into your oatmeal to add some fruit flavor as well as more fiber and some extra vitamins and minerals.  You can also consider tossing in some fresh blueberries, raspberries and blackberries which have among the highest levels of antioxidants out of any fruit or vegetable.

Another alternative is to use some dried fruits that are soft and easily chewed, raisins, dried blueberries, Craisins (dried cranberries) are excellent examples as they are very soft and often very potent flavored.  You can also add freeze dried fruit bits like apples, pears, apricots but only if they are the freeze dried kind that chews easily and/or dissolves when it touches your saliva.  The harder dried fruits will be too chewy and make it a little bit more difficult to enjoy while trying to eat your oatmeal.

Other methods to flavor oatmeal involve sprinkling some cinnamon or nutmeg on the top of your cereal, cinnamon is healthy and helps regulate blood sugar levels, if you are looking for a sweet oatmeal taste without calorie addition you can add Splenda, Sweet & Low or Equal packets to your oatmeal to make it as sweet as you want without adding calories.

Then again maybe you want to thicken your oatmeal and add flavor with milk.  Another alternative is to use strawberry, chocolate or vanilla milk slightly mixed with your oatmeal.  This will add a creamy texture to the oatmeal as well as flavor and strawberry milk added to oatmeal is a delicious treat to have once and a while.

These are just some tips to help you flavor and enhance your oatmeal experience and keep it fresh so you can continue to enjoy oatmeal day after day without growing bored or tired of it.  If you have any additional tips or ideas, please feel free to share them here.

So my in-laws old fashioned television was on the fritz and was having horizontal banding issues at the top of the screen on any input (DVD, Dish…etc) which clearly was a problem with the TV and not a feed. My wife and I bought them a replacement 26″ widescreen LCD TV to replace their 27″ CRT television as an Xmas gift this year. I am going to leave the house and drive over and install their TV while they are over our house for Xmas eve dinner, they will unwrap the “empty box” and come home to find I had already installed and configured their new TV for them.

I hope they enjoy the new Television.

-Justin Germino

My son had entered a charter school called Legacy Charter School earlier this year which is more advanced than the public elementary schools around here in Casa Grande, Arizona. With first graders already working on 2nd grade math and my son being a tad younger then the rest of the students he was having some trouble early on with spelling, phonograms and mathematics and received C’s last report card in those subjects. So we decided to buckle down and work more closely with him, we test him every night on phonograms, spelling and math including giving him mock exams and pop quizzes. We made it a rule that no computer until weekend and computer games are only allowed if he received a minimum of a B in his Friday tests (he receives tests every Friday).

This method has worked and now he earned straight A’s in every single category with only getting slightly less than an A on his handwriting penmanship, which it isn’t that he can’t write well when he is slow and careful, he just writes too fast and his handwriting suffers. Heck his teacher would give me an Unsatisfactory in handwriting, so that isn’t a super important category in my book (who will write anyway by the time he is 18?).

I am so proud of my son who has worked so hard and at 6 years old spends almost an hour and a half each night doing his homework plus additional study, he virtually never complains and always does his work and does it well (if sometimes rushing). I hope these good homework and study habits will burn themselves into his personality and he will continue to have this dedication and work ethic as he gets older.

-Justin Germino

It is ironic that it is still considered vulgar and inappropriate to swear in the corporate work place, yet you will find social media riddled with vulgarity and it is often used in the workplace. Personally I think it is crude, crass and generally not professional, only entertainers, comedians or people who are in fields where swearing is common place gain more leniency in this area, but people looking for professionalism need to represent such on all of their social media profiles and sites.

Remember that like it or not employers are just as likely to look you up on social media sites as friends, and now that Social Media is indexed by Google, Leapfish, Bing…etc when someone does a search for you things that you say on social media sites will be listed in the search results. This could very well damage careers, reputations and more. When interacting with social media you should always put your best face forward, unless your profile is set to private and only a handful of people can actually see and communicate with you.

-Justin Germino