Dan Gilbert: Clean House

Based on the Cavs season, I had high hopes for the post season. Yet here we are.
When the Cavs acquired LeBron 6 years ago, I said he needs another star player to help him win a championship. More importantly, I said he needs a big man underneath. I like Z, I liked Gooden, but never so much that I thought they would win it all. When Mo Williams began the season, I thought he would help and he did. LeBron's frustration shown through in games 5 and 6 against the Magic. It seemed like he did his best to show the front office that he needs help. In game 5, it looked like he let his teammates keep them in the game, until he took over in the 4 quarter. In game 6 he did the same thing, yet his teammates didn't show up. Their inconsistancy hopefully showed Danny Ferry that LeBron cannot do it all.

Now for Mike Brown: Get over yourself. Your an NBA coach and you can't make adjustments to defend the 3. You have a previous defensive player of the year in Ben Wallace, but didn't utilize him until games 5 and 6 when it was too late. In the game 4 over-time when Howard had 5 fouls, why, oh why, was LeBron not driving to the hole everytime to get him fouled out? Also, the game is long, so make every foul on Howard count. The weak fouls when he was going to the hole are not going to wear him down. I guess this is why Anderson Varejao needs to get into the weight room and gain 40 pounds.

Its frustrating to watch when you can sit and see the mistakes being made. But kudos to the Magic who hit every freakin' 3 every freakin' time.

Soil

So I'm in the yard yesterday doing some spring cleaning. I dug up a spot out back by the compost bin to plant my garlic. Normally this goes in during the fall, but I got a little preoccupied remodeling the kitchen. Anywhoo, I dug up a few garlic shoots that were actually growing in my garden and put them with the seeds that I planted by the compost pile. Thus far in my gardening career, I take the compost that decomposed over the summer and put it in the garden in the fall so that I have room for the leaves. As I was digging out the garlic, I had to dig through some of the compost. I realized why so much is written about compost. It is really an amazing additive to your soil. I have grown lettuce in compost, I started my seeds this winter in compost, and when I go to plant something new, I am sure to mix in some compost. The plants thrive, and really is a great system. So compost!

Gorgeous

A man that has yet to have a child just can't understand what's its like to be a dad. Elizabeth was born almost 3 weeks ago and I just can't get over how I feel. When my brother told be that it was the most amazing thing ever, I tried to equate that to hitting a walk off home run in the playoffs or accelerating around a corner with the windows down, knowing you are in control of the machine with a shot of adrenaline to boot. But, Wow. God really shows you a glimpse of what he did to make the world we live in.

'09 Auto Show

My father-in-law and I went to the Cleveland Auto Show last night. These will probably be the cars I will buy in 5 or ten years. I'm just not a huge fan of buying new and losing all that value as soon as you drive off the lot.

My thoughts are that Honda makes the best, most functional cars on the market. The Honda Civic was the only car in its class where I felt confortable sitting in the back seat. Why have a passenger car that passengers or carseats can't fit into? The new 2009 Pilot is money. It also has the most space for a 3rd row SUV. Granted the gas milage still sucks, but the milage on all SUV's suck, literally and figuratively.

Of the Big Three, I thought Ford had the most stylish and decently priced cars. The new fusion looked good and I was impressed with the new styling of the 2010 Taurus. It honestly looks like it can compete with the Audi A8 or BMW 700 class. No joke - it looked sharp. The new 2010 F150 Raptor looked great too. It looks like something you could go bajaing in.

When I walked through GM & Chrysler, it just seemed blah. The sedan selections seemed cheap and overpriced. They are still trying to sell trucks and SUV's at ridiculous prices. Why would I pay more for an American Truck or SUV, when I can get a foreign one cheaper that would last longer? This again needs fixed for the American consumer to gain confidence back in buying American autos.

GM is coming out with the new Camero and Chrysler has the Challenger. These are big muscle cars that resemble the '70s. I understand the idea that they are marketing to the Baby Boomers, but these cars are impractical to the everyday buyer and will not drive revenues. However, they both look sharp and there is a good chance that I would get pulled over driving both.

Lastly, talking about impraticallity, the Nissan GRT blew my doors off. This car is bad ass. It reminded me of the old Toyota Supra's, but certainly has made some advancemnts in mechanics. It has a duel clutch so that you can more quickly get through the gears allowing you to go from 0-60 in 3.3 seconds. Ridiculous I know, but it would be a lot of fun.

Salmon Patties

On occasion I prepare something in the kitchen that is worth writing down. So I thought I'd share this one with the rest of you.

These salmon patties are some of the best patties of any patties, including full fat burgers, that I have made. Here's the dish:

Take 6oz of fresh salmon filet and cook it in a tad of oil. Then break it apart as it is cooking into small flakes. Once it is almost cooked through, set it aside to cool a bit.

Then take the following and mix it in a bowl:

2 eggs (beaten)
2 tablespoons minced onion
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 fresh ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry ginger (if I had fresh I would have used 1/2 teaspoon)
1/4 garlic powder (if I would have taken the time this would have been 1 clove of fresh - minced)
2 tablespoons feta
2 tablespoons mayo (skip the lowfat - seriously)

Once this is mixed add your cooked salmon and mix
Then take about 1/2 to 1 cup of plain bread crumbs and mix it in. Mix these in a little at a time until the mixture starts to get more dense and less sticky.

Heat about 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a skillet. Form patties and place them in the hot oil. Make sure the the edges get brown and crispy before flipping them. The browned edges add to the happiness. Set them on a paper towel. I ate mine on a bun with some eggplant and red pepper spread from Trader Joe's, but these are certainly amazing by themselves. You should be able to make about 4 decent sized patties.

The Food Network ain't got nothing!

Happy eating.

P90X - End of Week 6 (Day 42)

My buddy purchased P90x this past summer and I asked him if I could join him in the workouts starting the new year. We were both determined to get disciplined and lose that extra 20lbs we've been carrying around.

We've been diligent at getting after it and have been "bringing it" every day for the past 42 days. I feel great. I've lost about 5 pounds, but have probably added the same or more in muscle mass. I can feel the difference in how my clothes fit.

During the first few weeks I could feel all of my "old" sports injuries coming back. - sprained left foot, right rotator cuff issues, hip displacement, sore knees. I'm happy to say that all of these injuries feel stronger and better. My knees are sore pretty much every day, but they feel like they are healing themselves. It's almost like rehab. Plus I was so out of shape, no wonder everything hurt.

I like this workout because you feel the burn in every exercise and routine. This is a workout program not to take lightly, but I think that is what has kept me motivated. Its like 90 days of two-a-days (pre-season football camp)

Lots of folks ask on different message boards about what happens after the 90 days are over. People think that your workouts end and you go back to the same old slouch you were before you started the program. I am excited for post-P90x. P90x is a catalyst for other types of exersise that I want to do. I have never ran in a 5k, which I plan on doing the day after P90x is over. I also want to ride my bike to work more often. Its 6 miles one way with lots of hills. I want to shed 10 minutes off my ride time (it currently takes me 25-30 minutes one way.) Lastly and most importantly, I want to be able to have the stamina get after raising Carrie and I's first baby.

If you are thinking about taking the P90x challenge - do it. It will save your life.

Environment to Thrive

When Carrie and I bought a house over 4 years ago, we had two rose bushes in the front of the house. The house faces north so these roses never really got the sun they needed. During the first summer we were there, they pretty much didn't do anything. We had a few leaves and the bushes themselves were about 12" x 12" x 12". There were no blooms. In the fall I transplanted them into the back yard where they got the sun. That next summer they did a little better. I got one bloom per bush. After a bit of pruning in the fall, the next summer they only had, yet again, two blooms. I was like what the heck!? That fall I added some compost and fertilizer to the soil. I again pruned back the tall canes in the fall. This spring I added some more fertilizer and compost. Wouldn't you know it, they went crazy this summer. I had so many blooms on it that the canes bent over and were touching the ground. Needless to say...its about time!!

I can equate these rose bushes to my working life. 4 years ago I started working for Enterprise Rent-A-Car. It was a good experience. I hated the work but it taught me what I wasn't good at. I am just not a salesman and can't deal with pressure very well. I want to be able to work on my own time at my own pace. I quit two years ago and started a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I was 26. A littel late, but better late than never.
In my second semester I was fortunate enough to have a class with an Engineer. Come to find he was the Systems Engineering Manager at Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems. This is geek speak for overseeing a lot of people and projects. About half the way through the semester, I asked him about an internship. He went on to say that I would have to give him my resume and he would pass me on to the HR dept and jump through the hoops. He came back the next day and said, "You know what I'll just take you resume and see what I can do." By May he had hired me as an intern with the hopes that my performance would necessitate a full time hiring. This past May he did hire me full-time!
Similar to the rose bush, my working career is thriving. I am working at my own pace with no pressure. I feel like for the first time, I am in an environment to thrive.

See Carrie's post about this exciting news