Why is this person one of my best friends? Well, I don’t really know. Sometimes you just see through all of the addiction and all of the drama that surrounds it and find that you like a person for the human being that they are, right? I guess that’s the root of my friendship with this person – after it’s all said and done, I just like them because they’re a good person at heart.

Stories like this one abound in suburban America. And as a guy who grew up in suburban America, I always wished that there was some type of avenue or route for so many of my friends to have their addictions managed and cared for when they became major problems. And that’s where a group that I recently learned about comes into play: Advanced Health and Education in Eatontown, New Jersey with a specific focus on providing heroin addiction treatment and alcohol rehab, among treatment for other services.

Having a group like Advanced Health and Education in New Jersey is a great option for those of us who know people that really need this type of service. Heroin addiction is running rampant in suburban New Jersey, but particularly in the Jersey Shore area (where I currently live).

Just as Governor Chris Christie mentioned the other day – we need to find ways to help those people in our lives who are addicted to drugs – not continue to lock them up without providing any treatment. Sometimes I wonder what would have become of my friend had they been offered the type of treatment that someone can find at a drug rehab center like Advanced Health and Education. At the very least, that person may not be sitting in a jail cell right now without being provided any treatment for the very real addiction that they suffer from on a daily basis.

If you’re suffering from addiction or if you know someone suffering from addiction or who needs treatment for alcoholism, then consider giving a place like Advanced Health and Education a try. Lord knows it beats the alternative that my friend is suffering through right now.

That’s right. All Mayor Zimmer wanted was to raise her profile in New Jersey politics. There is no question that Mayor Zimmer has aspirations for higher office in this state and – like a typical, untrustworthy politician – she warped reality to elevate her name recognition. What I want to know, though, is why she hasn’t responded to legitimate questions being brought up by the only major mainstream news personality that thought to investigate her claims – Megan Kelly. Take a look:

What gives, Mayor Zimmer? Stop running and answer these questions! Or, do you already know that if you answer honestly it throws your entire scheme over the edge and immediately eliminates any credibility that you have?

Remember this cowardice my fellow New Jersey voters…

Last night, Governor Chris Christie easily coasted to reelection along with his Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno. This was an interesting election, but not for the reasons that people typically find interesting in statewide elections. For example, the national media tried to make this a referendum on the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) and a straw poll on whether Democrats would jump the aisle to vote for a strong Republican leader. Those of us in New Jersey know that the national media doesn’t know what they’re talking about most of the time. Yesterday’s election had exactly nothing to do with Obamacare. Nothing. Not one single thing – at all. The election yesterday – and Governor Christie’s huge landslide victory – had everything to do with the way he handled the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Tangentially related to Governor Christie’s huge win last night is the way he provided strong, reasoned leadership after his predecessor absolutely destroyed our state’s economy and budget. Also, the Governor’s ultra-intelligent responses to spiteful, local teachers who tried to treat him like an insolent child gave voice to the vast majority of New Jerseyans who cannot stand the power that our state’s teachers’ union has built up over the many years of Democratic control in New Jersey.

But those are reasons why Governor Christie won the election. In no particular order, let’s look at why Senator Buono was a terrible candidate:

Absolutely No Clear, Cohesive Message
Anytime Senator Buono was asked about her platform, she couldn’t give a cogent answer that provided a long-term vision and intermediate steps to get there. In short, Senator Buono’s platform was, “Governor Christie is bad. I’m good. Vote for me!” That game doesn’t play well in New Jersey because we’re too smart for that rubbish.

Bending Over Backwards for the Teachers’ Union
The one message that Senator Buono was clear on was that she would do whatever the teachers’ union wanted her to do. It was true that in years past a (Democratic) candidate had to do whatever the teachers’ union told them to do. However, if Governor Christie has made anything clear it’s that the masses love teachers and love education, but they absolutely hate the vitriol and hate that is spewed from our biased, angry, spiteful teachers’ union. Let me restate that to paraphrase what Governor Christie said during his speech at the Republican National Convention in 2012: Republicans believe in teachers, Democrats believe in teachers’ unions. New Jerseyans are done with statewide elected officials who will do whatever the teachers’ union wants them to do. We want to help teachers actually teach kids – not hear the lies of a union that is years behind any semblance of relevancy.

She Was Too Angry And Too Muddled
After she lost last night, Senator Buono was about as muddled as a candidate could be in the wake of such a commanding defeat. She struck out against her own party (a huge political no-no) and what she suggested were elements actively working against her during the campaign. Give me a break. Apparently for Senator Buono when a Democrat independently assesses her credentials against Governor Christie and determines the Governor is the right person to vote for, then they are turning their backs on their party. If that’s not the biggest crock of crap that I’ve ever heard, then I’m living in Russia right now! What’s worse – after she lost last night she randomly tried to make the entire election about breaking a “good old boys” club by bringing in some of the comments from then-Senator Hillary Clinton’s concession speech during the 2008 Presidential election. Really? Sexism in New Jersey? Does Senator Buono even know the political history of the state that she ran to be the Governor of yesterday? Has she not heard of Governor Christine Todd Whitman? Or what about the fact that since we instituted the Lieutenant Governor position a few years ago we’ve only ever had women run for the position? Do I even need to get into the myriad women who are the chief executives of various state agencies?

An uneven balance of anger, kowtowing to equally angry unions, and having absolutely no message is what made Senator Buono a terrible candidate.

• Governor Christie Is In Control. Thank God we have a leader like Governor Chris Christie in charge of New Jersey during this chaos. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, you have to respect the way that Christie took on this situation directly and without any delay. He warned people well in advance to get out of certain areas of the state. He is on-site managing cleanup and recovery efforts. He isn’t making stupid decisions like attempting to hold a marathon in the middle of the mayhem (a rare miss by New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg). Christie is doing an amazing job for the state and I’m glad that we have him on the job during this time.
• The Governor Throwing Politics to the Side. Again, unlike some of his pathetic predecessors, I have to praise Governor Christie for his direct statements about President Barack Obama and the leadership that he showed during his visit. When a FOX News reporter asked Governor Christie about how he felt about potentially giving Obama a pre-election bump in the polls after thanking him during his visit, this is what Christie said: “I endorsed Mitt Romney 13 months ago because I thought he was the best guy for the job and on Tuesday I’m voting for Mitt Romney because I think he’s the best guy for the job. But it doesn’t mean that I can’t turn the President of the United States of American and say to him ‘Thank you, sir, for providing good leadership during this crisis and for helping the people of New Jersey,’ and to extend my hand of friendship to him.” Can you imagine a liar like Governor Jim McGreevey or Governor Jon “Money Bags” Corzine giving as direct and noble an answer as Christie did?
• The Immediate Post-Hurricane Shoppers. What I really don’t get about the aftermath of the hurricane are the people who stormed the grocery stores and left with wagons and wagons filled with food. First, didn’t these people do the same thing not but two days earlier when the entire state was in a panic over the pending storm? And if they did, then did they eat through a wagon (or two) filled with groceries in just two days? Stop eating so much! Second, if these people did not fill up their pantries and refrigerators prior to the storm hitting… why not?! What part of a major storm aiming directly for our state did you not understand? Get with the program, people!
• Staten Island is Decimated. I can’t believe the pictures and video coming out of Staten Island. Seriously, if you’ve not seen these pictures, then you need to do a Bing or YouTube search and you’ll see the devastation that I’m talking about. It’s absolutely unbelievable. I’m going to comb through some of my clothes to see if I can donate some of them to the people who lost everything in the storm.
• There Are Always Dumb People. If you live in New Jersey, then you’ve probably tuned in to NJ 101.5 at some point in the last week. I heard one called say that she was really upset that there was so much focus by the utility companies on the Jersey Shore region and not where she lived up in Northwest New Jersey where she was without power, too. Typically, I’m with this woman and I think that the people in Northwest New Jersey are often overlooked when it comes to government-regulated services. But what really irked me was what this idiot mentioned in her rant. She said that the utility companies were disregarding the people in her area because “we don’t live right on top of each other like it’s the Third World like they do down the shore.” What a moron. The hosts of the radio show were quick to tell her that what she thought was her biggest selling point – that the people in Northwest New Jersey live in a geographically dispersed region – was actually what was preventing the utilities from focusing on them. Anyone with half a brain realizes that these utility companies have to get power to the most people as quick as possible. So they’re obviously going to choose to restore power to those areas that are heavily populated versus those that are widely dispersed. I wanted to call in to this woman and tell her that if she was annoyed that this happened all of the time, then she should go out and buy a generator. Yes, if you live out in the woods (like all of my family does and like I would like to do again some day), then you should be prepared to buy a generator for situations like this one. Get real, idiot.
• We’re a Strong, Hardy People. The populations of New Jersey and New York are strong. We’re a tough people, a hardy people. We’re the American versions of the British mentality of keeping a stiff upper lip. In other words, as soon as it was safe to go outside and start cleaning up and helping people recover their lives, we began working. Companies opened, neighbors helped neighbors once the power came back on, people began donating old clothes and other items in mass quantities, congregations began organizing food drives. This part of the Northeast megalopolis is packed with tough, stern individuals. We relish being challenged. We love overcoming adversity. We typify the American angst and, frankly, anger at being put off of our various courses in life. When things get bad, the New Jersey/New York population digs in fights back. This entire area will come back stronger for the effort.

I was conflicted on whether or not to add a final thought in a final bullet point up there. The final thought relates to my last sentence in these bullet points about coming back stronger for the effort. I’m not entirely sure that we should be planning to come back in the same form or with the same function as we were before the storm hit. Let’s be honest – when the people who were living below sea-level down in New Orleans were obliterated during that storm, there were voices from throughout the nation saying that they should not be rebuilding in those low-lying areas that are prone to destruction. The same chorus can be heard each year when parts of the Gulf States and Florida, in particular, get battered by hurricanes.

That same thought is running through my mind in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Should we rebuild everything as it was or should we rebuild things differently? If you think we should rebuild things differently – how so? What should be different?

Other than additional reinforcement of some of our structures, I don’t know what could have been done to protect against a storm of that nature. I’m interested in your thoughts, so please share them!

The video below was taken much later – only a few hours before Hurricane Sandy hit the Asbury Park Boardwalk. Notice how the Atlantic Ocean begins to actually hit the boardwalk in this video.

And, of course, there is the image gallery. The captions below are short and sweet, but they should indicate where the picture was taken and what it’s showing you. Take a look – it was an intense storm.

And that’s some before and after of Hurricane Sandy in the Northern Jersey Shore area of Monmouth County. It’ll take a lot of time to rebuild and get things back to normal, but we’re from New Jersey – we love a challenge!

Remember Prodigy? Wow – what an old reference!

Well, I still like to learn more about the world around me and my love of reading has stuck with me. In my bedroom I have a bookshelf filled with books (most of which I haven’t read through yet) and in my spare bedroom I have a large plastic tote container also filled with books (also mostly unread). Plus, my Mom bought me a NOOK Color a few years ago and that thing is filled with an entirely different set of books than are sitting on my bookshelves.

But it’s not just physical books and e-books that I enjoy reading. I also enjoy reading various blogs, news, and commentary websites. In fact, I use the Google Reader interface and that poor thing is overloaded with hundreds of updates everyday. Granted, I only read 3 – 5 of the actual updates, but 3 – 5 articles each day over the course of a week begins to add up!

And the love of reading continues… each weekend I receive the bulletin from church and I go through it to make sure that there isn’t anything new going on that I’ve missed. Of course, that’s a quick read and I can usually get through it as I eat my lunch on Sunday. But then you have the occasional weekend when the diocesan newspaper is released and that thing is packed with news! I just received one of them last weekend and I’m still getting through it. Which leads me to the newspaper and “news” in general. I really enjoy waking up in the morning and scanning through the New York Times website as well as the FOX News website (hey – you need to get both sides of the story, right?). I imagine that whenever I buy a house I’ll have to get a weekender subscription to the New York Times. Or maybe the online version – who knows?

Then there is the “To Read” file that I keep on my computer. Whenever I get sent an article or a report that is too long to read in one sitting, I stick it in that file and hope to get back to it at some point. As you might imagine, that folder gets bigger and bigger. Not to mention that I have a whole series of bookmarks on my computer that are holding old article that I need to go back and read at some point.

Right now I’m reading three different books for the class that I’m taking (remember that?). I’m also at the beginning of the eighth book in the Sword of Truth Series (remember that, too?) on my NOOK. And I’m about halfway through reading The Jersey Sting. Very interesting book considering that I worked in the real estate business in Deal Township, New Jersey.

I think if I can get through the eighth book of the Sword of Truth series on the NOOK and the rest of The Jersey Sting, then I’ll feel less pressure to read. Once I get those books out of the way, I’m going to start picking off the articles in my saved bookmarks folder. Then I’m going to pick off the articles that I’ve saved on the Google Reader. The next thing is going to be the “To Read” folder and then I’m going to begin hitting those books sitting on my bookshelf and in the plastic tote.

So the question is – when does a love of reading become a problem?!

My favorite quotes from the speech:

“Teachers teach because they love children.”

“Real leaders don’t follow polls. Real leaders change polls!”

Excellent job, Governor Christie. Way to knock it out of the park!

America, My Hometown fourth of july

“When I travel about this great nation, I never cease
to frown,…. for wherever I seem to land and settle,
I call……
America, my hometown

When I cross the Golden Gate in Frisco Bay, the western
States,the Rockies and great plains, my heart wells up
with pride,….from emotions felt deep inside, and my tears
become so hard to hide.
America, my hometown.

From the golden shores and shining cities of the west and along the sandy shores towns and villages of the garden state things still look simply great.

all through colonial new england and up to rugged coastline of the great State of Maine.
our peoples’ quest and dreams of liberty ,and freedom
still remain the same.
for justice,freedom and liberty for all, still ring true today,…..
just as the liberty bell, in our founders’ yesterday.
America, my hometown.

Along the mighty Mississippi from Minneapolis to
New Orleans,….our country’s morality and
patriotic spirit is alive and well, just as all our
other great and noble dreams.
America,my hometown.

Our founders’ vision of liberty and freedom in our country still lives
on today,throughout our nation in cities,both large and small and
along main street U.S.A.
as Lady LIberty stands ever vigilant atop her pedestal on the Bay as our founding fathers dream of
liberty and freedom still live on, to this very day.”
America, my hometown.
God bless America!!!! on the FOURTH of july.”

We hope you enjoyed these verses and we hope that you enjoy the Fourth of July!

The reason why my student loan debt hasn’t dropped to a greater extent is simple – the United States government demanded my money. That’s right. Remember the $3,690 that I paid to the Internal Revenue Service a few months ago? That’s the explanation of why my student loan debt hasn’t dropped more than $1 thousand in the last month and a half. The government demanded my money and – like any good citizen – I had no choice but to pay.

One could argue that the several thousand dollars that I put down on my new car could have also gone towards reducing my total student loan debt. The difference between the money I owed to the IRS and this down payment, though, is that I had been budgeting to buy a new car so the money for the down payment was available. On the other hand, the IRS tax liability was a very quick turnaround and required me to tap into my savings account. Sure, I’ve got more than enough savings to take care of the tax liability, but I’m anal about my savings account and investments so I really hate tapping into them. I’ve been spending the last few months replenishing the money I had to withdraw for taxes (as well as my regular deposits into the savings account). That’s what happens when the IRS rapes depletes your free cash flow.

If I didn’t need a new car and the IRS wasn’t greedy for this working man’s money, my total amount of student loan debt outstanding today would not be $28 thousand. Instead it would be $18 thousand. In fact, I’d be less than 12 months away from totally eliminating the student loan debt once and for all.

But the government called and my car failed. Your classic one-two punch.

Bastards.

And I love the first comment on the video page on YouTube. It reads: “I’m a liberal democrat living in NY, and I would vote for Gov Christie for President in a NY minute. Yes, I would vote against party lines just this one time, because he says what he truly believes.”

People neglect how important it is to deal with someone who means what they say. So many of today’s politicians are bullshit artists – not Governor Christie. He tells you exactly what’s on his mind and then he pushes his policies forward.

That’s actually rare in today’s politics (go figure). Anyway, I enjoyed that short video – I hope you did, too.