Justin Germino Ramblings

It doesn’t seem like it has been thirteen years since I first took my wife out on Valentines day. I took her to a seafood restaurant called Steamers in Phoenix and I remember back then when we were both so young and had only been together for about eight months the feeling we felt about each other. I had already proposed to her, since I knew she would be the one I would spend the rest of my life with. We had met in 1996 and I proposed in December that same year. On July 4th 2009 we were married and each year I enjoy the little “celebrations” and Valentines Day is no exception.

As a parent of two kids one thing I can tell you for certain is that celebrations and alone time is much more valuable with your partner now that it is so much harder to get. You treasure the alone time much more, as now you are almost constantly battered by the everyday demands that come with having children. So my wife and I will have some alone time together and we actually haven’t been alone on a trip since our cruise in June of 2009, so has been about 3/4 of a year.

Here’s to celebrating my 13th Valentines Day with my wife, and I know she will always be my Valentine.

-Justin Germino

My wife and I had made plans to spend Valentines Day in Las Vegas and we will be staying at The M resort and casino. This really nice resort is off the strip (it is located on Las Vegas Blvd, but further down than the strip) and is much more calm, relaxing and quiet than the strip casino’s. We had visited last time we stayed in Vegas and were very impressed by the whole appearance and feel of the place and decided to book a few days there and spend some alone time without the kids.

I booked a reservation at one of the restaurants which is a surprise to my wife, I won’t tell her which one. We look forward to a weekend of relaxation, gambling and just spending some quality time together. I did have to take a few days off of work since we are leaving on a Sunday and I am returning on Tuesday. My wife had business in Las Vegas and will be staying on until Friday the 19th.

-Justin Germino

Rock Along Productions is hosting a Battle of the Bands show on Saturday March 20th at the Goat Head Saloon in Mesa Arizona.  Local AZ bands will compete to win a grand prize worth over $1200 dollars that includes cash, studio time, a website design, free custom merchandise for the band, free gear from System Custom Drums and more.  If you know someone who is in an Arizona band in any genre of music that is looking to get noticed and win some free stuff that can help their band get promoted and recorded you should encourage them to sign up for Rock Along Productions Battle of the Bands.

The show itself is on Saturday March 20th, but bands need to sign up and register before March 1st which is the deadline.  Registration is only $25 and the bands registration is what is pooled and helps fuel the cash part of the 1st place Prize.  This show will have six judges who are all in the local music community and will judge bands not only on the music performance, but stage presence as well as several other criteria.  You can read about the Contest Rules for the Battle of The Bands contest on Rock Along Productions for more information.

Bands can sign up to enter the Battle of the Bands by using the registration link below and you can contact Rock Along Productions for more information.

Click on poster to enter your band in “Battle of the Bands” show.

Good luck to all the local Arizona bands who enter, only 15 entries are available and there is only 2 1/2 weeks left to register.

-Justin Germino

I am officially going to be a presenter at CAWorld 2010 in May and this will be my 2nd time giving a presentation about the CA SiteMinder product and ways to leverage, implement and configure it in large scale environments. I normally don’t post about my day job on my blogs, but since I am presenting publicly I am inviting anyone who works with CA SiteMinder or attending CA World this May 16th – 20th 2010 to come out and see my presentation titled:

Security & M&A: How to Leverage CA SiteMinder When Merging Large Existing Web Infrastructures

I will be discussing the options and ways to merge IT infrastructures behind a single SiteMinder environment.

You can read about my session track here:
http://www.ca.com/caworld/agendas/SessionDetails.aspx?SessionId=1902

For those who are fans of my personal blog, know that I am still terrified of public speaking and wrote my article about when I was a speaker at CA World back in 2008. I am not as terrified the 2nd time around, and hope to not be as jittery and as much a nervous wreck the weeks before like I eighteen months ago.

-Justin Germino

Popular Science is one of my favorite magazines and I never fail to learn something new in every issue that comes to my house. I learned that in 1952 a woman by the name of Henrietta Lacks contributed some cells taken during a cervical cancer biopsy. These cells reproduce infinitely in a lab and is the first immortal human cell line. The “HeLa” cells as they are called have been used so often that if you combined them they would weigh as much as 100 Empire State buildings and circle the equator three times.

HeLa cells were used to test countless vaccines including the Polio vaccine in 1952, also did you know that a scientist spilled a chemical on a HeLa cell in a lab completely by accident which caused the chromosomes to detangle and spread out. This later led to the discover that humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes not forty eight which was first thought.

HeLa cells were cancerous were discovered to use an enzyme called telomerase which repairs their DNA allowing them and other cancer cells to function normally when other cells would have died. This also leads to immortal cell reproduction where the cells never know when to “cease” reproduction and therefore continue to replicate forever.

Just some science fact if you wanted to know about one of the most important human cell lines in science history.

-Justin Germino

I received my first of two W2’s related to my blogging hobby and it was from Triangle Media which is the company behind PayU2Blog.  Ironically my income from PayU2Blog for 2009 was exactly $777.  Seriously three 7’s, is that some ironic lucky coincidence or what?  But this combined with my IZEA W2 and I should have cleared almost $1800 in 2009 from the two blogging companies combined.  Not enough money to live off of, but it did help me pay for some extra Christmas gifts for the family last year and I am hoping to make some more blog money for such occasions again this year.

I am actually still just amazed that I can just write about whatever I want and have reached enough of an audience and success that companies are hiring and sponsoring me to review, promote or talk about their products.  I mean with the 17+ million blogs online today, to even have your blogs reach that really makes me feel good.  I had a conversation with a friend last month who said that most hobbies drained both time and money, but I quickly corrected him that my hobby may drain time, but at least its a hobby that makes me some money.

-Justin Germino

I was reading a Top Ten list over on Mary’s Madness and decided to join her creative spark and make a top ten list of my own.

Here would be my top ten snack items to eat while watching TV (I rotate through these quite frequently)

#1 – Pepperoni, Cheese and Crackers

This is a staple of mine, and I can’t help but eat sliced pepperoni, aged Swiss with some butter crackers or toasted whole wheat ones. Yep, I am going to die of a heart attack when I am forty probably, but this is one snack I can’t deny myself every once and a while.

#2 – Pretzels

I rotate between pretzel rods, twists, sour dough, mini’s and even Goldfish pretzels which are really good and buttery. Makes you drink a lot more while eating them though.

#3 – Cheerios

Ironic that my first two items are so unhealthy and my third isn’t so bad for you. I like just eating dry handfuls of Cheerios or multi grain cheerios, both make a good snack and healthier than Chex mix.

#4 – Frozen Pizza

I won’t lie, more than a few times my wife and I will pop a frozen pizza in the oven at 9pm and eat it as a snack during a late night movie or TV show marathon.

#5 – Grapes or Raisins

I love eating red grapes, or midnight grapes and often will just pick and plop handfuls while watching TV or a show. Again this is one of the few healthy snacks on my list.

#6 – Cheez-it Party Mix

Something about this particular party mix makes it taste so good, the fact that it has Cheez-its plus those little crunchy bagel bite thingies, and the saltiness and sweet combined with the cheddar always makes me crave this one.

#7 – Kettle Corn

I love popped Kettle Corn and there are a few good brands out there that are microwavable. I like the sweet taste of kettle korn more than the buttery taste of regular popcorn. I even like the light 100 calorie packs so this makes it a not to unhealthy snack.

#8 – Bowl of Cereal

My wife is a huge fan of eating a bowl of Fiber One or another cereal sometimes during a snack. I myself am lactose intolerant but have on more than one occasion enjoyed a bowl of cereal with soy milk (which tastes great by the way). This is another not so unhealthy option if you choose a healthy cereal, a bowl of Lucky Charms not so much.

#9 – Potato Chips

Salt and Vinegar or Cracked Black Pepper, or even Mesquite BBQ. Sometimes nothing takes the place of some potato chips while watching a movie or show.

#10 – Taco Bell

Since having kids we don’t do nearly as many Taco Bell runs at night as we used to after the go to sleep. We used to just pick up a couple of burrito’s or Nachos Bellgrande at like 9pm and chow down during a movie occasionally.

Now, don’t think I go through this list every night. I only have a snack at night maybe two or three times a week and more often than not it is one of the healthier choices, but everything in moderation and you won’t do too much damage on your body and still enjoy the pleasure of eating some junk food 🙂

-Justin Germino

My family had a little bit of a scary incident yesterday involving my Boston Terrier dog Porky. I was outside working on the trailer and this stray Jack Russel terrier mix had come up to our house and was playing nicely with my kids and dogs. I don’t know where the dog came from, but it didn’t seem harmful and my dog played pretty nice with him, until it went along its way. About an hour later my Mother in Law had taken my kids and dog for a walk (the dog was leashed) and while they were around the block a police officer had come by asking if we had seen a black and white dog. We mentioned about the Jack Russel terrier mix we saw earlier and he had informed us that a dog had bit a kid on the hand.

The worst part was when my Mother in Law came back to our house with our Boston Terrier who is black and white the Police officer had asked if our dog was leashed the whole time and since a black and white small dog was reported the office asked to have our dog brought over for the kid to identify if it was the dog who bit him.

This poor little dog wouldn’t bite anything or anyone, he hasn’t a mean bone in his body and he was guilty until proven innocent:

Meanwhile, the kid at first said “It looks like the dog” which had us panicked before the kid finally acknowledged it only looked like it because of the black and white, it wasn’t the dog that bit him in the hand. The kid must have only been eight or nine years of age, and I can see how kids can see a dog and any dog black and white “looks” like another dog. The officer let us and our dog go, but for a brief moment my wife and I were panicked about what almost could have happened.

Be careful out there with your pets folks, make sure they are leashed at all times and don’t run free. Even if you have the friendliest dog in the word, when a dog around the neighborhood bites someone it can make everyone be on alert and if you have a dog wandering or a dog that even is close in appearance to another dog, you might be blamed.

-Justin Germino

So last summer we picked up a cheap boat trailer that was unregistered and a little rusty, but we put a good 1st coat of white paint on it and now all it needs is a second coat with some carpet stapled on it, new winch rope and some chains repaired.  I am also going to install the light kit, then my wife can start the registration process so that we can have the trailer registered in time for when we get our boat.  We know we want a 14′ aluminum boat, nothing fancy but something that will allow us to fish in the deeper areas of Woods Canyon and Willow Springs lake because the banks are just overcrowded lately and we have had little success fishing off the banks in recent years.

I always thought it was a little ironic to own a boat in the middle of the desert.

-Justin Germino

A friend of mine forwarded me a link to the article on PhysOrg.com about a Spray on Glass Liquid that is transparent, non-toxic, odorless, flexible, breathable and can bond with almost any surface.  Liquid glass was invented in Turkey and the patent is held by Nanopool which is a German company.

This liquid glass is only about 100 nanometers thick which is about 15-30 molecules and is made of pure silica, no additives it truly is glass that is such a thin coating that it is completely flexible and breathable.  Studies have shown that countertops sprayed with this glass coating can be cleaned with just hot water, without the need for harsh chemicals to kill bacteria.  In addition you can coat a house roof, cars and other objects with the spray on glass that would create a water proof, UV protected, scratch and stain proof coating that was so thin it would be invisible to the naked eye.

The liquid glass coating is breathable, which means it can be used on plants and seeds. Trials in vineyards have found spraying vines increases their resistance to fungal diseases, while other tests have shown sprayed seeds germinate and grow faster than untreated seeds, and coated wood is not attacked by termites.

Think of the possibilities

• Coating for cars so that you will never get scratches in your paint again, nor ever get rust.
• UV protection for your roof which would insulate and keep your roof lasting so much longer, rain would slide off your roof so much easier with a liquid glass coating
• Clothing sprayed with liquid glass would be stain proof and water proof, the material would never get wet and no stain could ever penetrate the cloth.
• Cutting Boards and other kitchen counter area’s would be easier to keep sanitary and clean, this would be especially useful in commercial kitchens

I think this may be one of the most revolutionary products that is about to make it to market in the next few years and you will start seeing liquid glass applicators for just about every object you can think of.   This is something to watch folks, this is going to be big.

On another note:

Nanotechnology and research into nano-particles is not very efficient, if this product were used on cutting boards we know that silica itself is nontoxic, but at this nano scale inhaling and ingesting nano particles could cause them to lodge into cell membranes in the body and nobody really knows what the side effects could be if nano particles were to contaminate the human body and start collecting in or around cell structures.  This is true even of those micro scrubbing pads and makeup with nano particles of diamond dust or other materials.  I myself wonder if twenty years from now there is going to be a huge “recall” of nano products because of the damage caused over the years of inhaling nano chemicals and components as a result.  I would hope much more research gets done to make sure the liquid glass nano-particles are safe if ingested and inhaled because if it is going to be used to sanitize countertops and food stations, then little microscopic bits are going to break off and get lodged in food and water and will make its way into the human GI tract at some point.

-Justin Germino