Switched to Blogger for posting these messages. Allows for much better stream of consciousness. Wish there was a way to automate the hyperlinks, but I’ve found a great Widget for Konfabulator that allows me to post my Blog on the fly!

Really loving the Mac more these days; OSX makes all the difference. For instance, in addition to Konfabulator, I got turned on to Fire, which allows me to IM on Yahoo, AIM, and MSN all in one application. Like Trillian for the Mac. Still a tad unstable, but better than all 3 apps at once!

OK, so, as one of the biggest Matrix fans, everyone asks what I thought of Matrix Reloaded. The effects were amazing. The story was convoluted. The Characters: you needed a program to keep up with them all. In short, nowhere near the power of The Matrix, but I was glad to see them all back in action. Like any good 2nd movie of a trilogy, it sets up the 3rd more than anything else.  ¶ 12:05 PM

The latest ramblings in Josh's mind...

• Bill Simmons, aka "The Sports Guy," is one
  of the funniest, and observant columnists, ever. Don't be fooled by his
  title; he writes about some of the best cultural references of the 1980's
  and beyond. Two of his recent columns, Basketball
  Jesus, and West Coast
  Sports Watching, are some of his best.
  
  
  
  This man deserves more than just a writing gig on the Jimmy Kimmel
  Show. See
  his old columns for yourself!
  
  


• Heading to Boston to speak for Altura at Boston
  Business: Outside the Box.


• After struggling with the Siemens great dual base
  phone system I finally had to confront the static, and get a new phone. My
  friend Stephanie highly recommended the new 5.8
  GHz V-Tech...we'll see how it goes!


• I just finished listening to the Biography of Howard Hughes:
  what an insane man. Listening to Salt,
  right now: fascinating! Not much tops The Diamond
  Age, but I'm still
  trying...


• Christine Fox, a friend of ours, just hosted a
  Zinfandel tasting party. The Markham
  was surprisingly good!

That's it for now...

4/25/03:
Looks like we are overdue for an update again!

Let's see…

Josh

• I
  was sicker than I have been in 20 years this last month. Call it bronchitis,
  pneumonia, SARS, The Plague…whatever: I had it. Took 3 weeks to get rid of
  the dammed thing!
  
  
  
  
  


• I
  lost about 35 pounds, thanks to the late Dr,
  Atkins. Worked like a charm, and I'm enjoying the new diet. I'm done
  losing weight for a while; I'm content to be below 200!
  
  
  
  
  


• Just
  celebrated my 1 year anniversary with Altura!
  What a fast year! I have a great team: in the last few months, I added
  Charlotte Falk, Karl Schafer-Junger, and Tim Kilroy!
  
  
  
  
  


• Made
  a trip back to
  
  Boston
  
  for a few days to catch up on old times. Not a lot of time, but it was fun!  Heading
  back to
  
  Boston
  
  in early May, so hopefully I'll catch up with those I did not before.
  
  
  
  
  


• bGon
  Enterprises continues to grow! We took on about 500 new items to sell,
  and are working overtime these days!
  
  
  
  
  


• On
  the technology side:




• My
  newest favorite toy is my iPod.
  Got the 5GB version on eBay for $200.
  Now, I can listen to my favorite Audible.com
  books with no CD burning or partial recordings! If you are interested
  in joining them, please tell me, so I can help you.


• I'm
  still loving my wireless
  headset for my Sony T68i.
  Made by Jabra, it works on Bluetooth, and is easily the best headset I
  have ever had. Wireless is the way to go!


• Found
  a great site for ringtones &
  themes for the T68i!


• My
  Palm M515 works great
  with Bluetooth, too.

Amy

• She's
  the newest superstar sales person at Lexus
  of Marin! She's selling cars now, and the new RX330
  is her latest obsession. Expect one in our driveway, once the Nav system is
  available.
  
  
  
  
  


• She's
  having a great time, and working hard!

Hope all is
well with you!

- Amy
& Josh

Well, what
the heck have we been up to?

 It's
been a while since we've had enough time to update the site with details on what
we've been up to. I've never kept a journal, so I'm woefully out of practice,
and I'm not all that familiar with "blogging," but it seems a good,
meaty update on what we are doing and up to is in order. Here goes!

All is well
at the homefront. El Niño has returned
to Northern California this year, bringing wet and wild weather. We had a near
hurricane a couple of weeks ago that blew many shingles off the roof, and forced
me out into the storm to reattach gutters in the howling storm! At least I
finally realized how great a power drill is! The deer have adopted our house as
home. A family of five live under the stairs and on the hillside, so we've grown
accustomed to each other.

Josh is now
busier than a one-armed paperhanger! As Director of Business Development for Altura
International, I'm supervising about 8 folks across the country. Altura is
the parent company of CatalogCity, and
based in Monterey, CA, about 125 miles from the house: I go down to Monterey
about twice a week. Without my Valentine
One radar detector, and Audible.com's
digital audiobooks, it would be a tough commute. As it is, it's perfect, as I
work from home 3 days a week.

In addition
to Altura, I've formalized by eBay Trading
Assistant business by forming a company with my old friend and partner Tim
Kilroy, in Boston. bGon Enterprises
has about 20 clients, and we are now Silver Power Sellers on eBay! We have about
$150,000 in inventory to sell, and we're having a great time doing so. It's a
lot of work, but the work is fun, enjoyable, and satisfying. If you want to sell
your products on eBay, make it bGon!

Amy's
enjoying being back at work, after a 6-year break. She's working in the auto
industry, for Lexus of Marin. She's
learned a lot about the industry, and loves the Lexus, since she owns one. She's
also completed her real estate training, and will soon be taking the state exam
to become licensed to sell real estate, though she may sell some cars, in the
meantime. In any case, she's better than she's ever been!

Traveling?
Well, we've been all over. We took a few quick trips to Boston, as my
grandmother passed away; we miss her. Mostly, we've been spending time out West
here: a few trips to our good friends Lloyd
& John's, in their new house in Reno, and, of course, Wine Country.
We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving in Mill Valley with about 10 people, and
looking forward to it!

Other news?
Well, let's get you up to date on gadgets in our lives (what else?):

• Josh
  finally went wireless! Our house is now Wi-Fi enabled, which allows us to
  wireless access our cable modem service! Stay with the Tretakoff Bed and
  Breakfast, and tap in to high-speed internet, wirelessly!




• Using
  a Linksys
  WAP11 base station


• Using
  a Linksys
  card for my Sony laptop


• Using
  Xircom's SpringPort
  card for my Visor
  Prism
  
  
  
  
  




• Yes,
  we have lots of computers in the house. The Sony desktop
  PC, the Sony Laptop
  PC, and the iMac!
  The iMac is now running OS 10.2,
  aka Jaguar. Folks, this is the way a computer SHOULD be. It made me realize
  why I loved a Mac. If they add support for Exchange (supposedly early next
  year), my next computer is an iMac!
  
  
  
  
  


• Amy
  decided having a home theater wasn't enough for Josh, so we joined the PlayStation
  2 crowd. Gotta say, with all our equipment, this thing sounds, and
  plays, amazing:




• 66"
  Toshiba Projection TV


• Bose
  Acoustimass 5 speakers


• Sony
  Dolby ProLogic & DTS receiver


• DirecTV
  Dolby Digital Satellite system


• Progressive
  Scan DVD Player
  
  
  
  
  




• By
  the way, if you ever are told video games are not addictive, check out Medal
  Of Honor as the proof. Good God….
  
  
  
  
  


• Ok,
  I admit it. I'm hard to buy for. Luckily, friends always seem to know what I
  want. However, as hints, I've left a wish
  list at Amazon, should you be so inclined.
  
  
  
  
  


• My
  VisorPhone
  still is plugging away, though I've put the Prism through hell. I'm getting
  that hunger for a new PDA, but the convenience of having a single device
  that's a phone and PDA in one is strong. Must be color, too. That leaves the
  Treo
  or the new Tungsten
  W as the strongest contenders (no, I won't consider PocketPC).

Let's
see…what else? I'm still smoking cigars, of course. With a 2-hour commute,
it's a necessity! Zinos
are still my favorite, but I've recently gotten turned on to Punch's, as well.

Finally,
upcoming events for us include:

• Thanksgiving
  at the house


• Mendocino
  in December, for the weekend


• Sedona
  in January, we hope

Basically,
we're enjoying life to its fullest, having a great time, and relaxing. Thanks
for stopping by!