The Good Riddance

It’s been a pretty long winter up here in the Northeast, but April has finally arrived and with that comes some better weather (hopefully) and, most importantly, April vacation!!! My uncle that owns a towing company is letting me use his timeshare for a week, so I’m really looking forward to getting away for a little while and enjoying some warmer weather. With that said, it’s time to say,
“Good riddance!!” to winter!!! Until next year, my ole friend!!

Disclaimer: I’m not going to Hawaii, but I thought this was a cool video. Enjoy!!!

One of my favorite foods to both cook and eat is steak. I absolutely love it!!! Over the years, I’ve tried several different cooking methods while in search for the perfect steak. So far, I’ve found the reverse sear method to be the best. The reverse sear allows for an even temperature from top to bottom, unlike most other methods that result in one temperature in the middle and a much different one at the edges. However, today I came across a different method while on YouTube. A steak cooked in a cooler!! Yes, you heard that correctly….in a cooler!! Watch the video below and say Good Riddance to unevenly cooked steak!!

For a direct link to the video on YouTube, click here.

It’s about that time of year where a lot of people start thinking about getting in shape for the summer. Well, actually, they’ve probably been thinking about since around January 1st. Either way, the summer is quickly approaching and if you’re one of these people, you’re probably looking for a bit of motivation right about now. No worries, my friend…..I GOT YOU!!!  I was talking to a friend that owns a roofing company in West Hartford, Connecticut and he sent me this video for some motivation. I gotta say, I absolutely love it and I hope you do as well. Hopefully this is the year we can take the pounds off and say, “Good Riddance!!” to them forever. LET’S GO!!

Sorry that I haven’t posted in a while, but life has a way of getting hectic at times. I’ve tried to think about some of the most important events that have occurred since my last post and whether or not there was any particular event that I’d be happy to say, “Good Riddance!!” to.

Well, the one major occurrence that immediately pops into my mind is the 2016 election and the subsequent results. Wowzers!!! I am certainly glad that the election is over!!! However, despite being 2 months in to Trump’s presidency, it seems many liberals and democrats still can’t quite comprehend what transpired during the late night/early morning hours of that fateful November election. For a quick recap of the greatest upset in American politics, please see the video below.

All of the polls got this election completely wrong. It’s going to be interesting to see how all of the polls weigh in on the next election. One thing is for sure, people are going to study and analyze this election for the next few decades!!!

For a direct link to the video above, please click here.

It’s been over a week since the summer Olympic Games have ended, and I have to say, I still really miss them. I had so much fun watching athletes from all over the world competing for the opportunity to fulfill their dreams – winning a gold medal at the Olympics!! From the performances of first time Olympians like Simone Biles to seasoned vets such as Michael Phelps, the action was nonstop. All in all, the Americans were absolutely amazing while hauling in a staggering number of medals. Ryan Lochte and Hope Solo may have added some unnecessary drama (although I didn’t think Solo’s comment was too bad), it was still a great Olympics.

My Favorite Moment

If watching all of the different competitions wasn’t enough, hearing some of the athlete’s stories of tragedy and triumph was truly breathtaking and quite inspirational. The one story that I think I will remember most from these Games is about U.S runner Abbey D’Agostino. Abbey was competing in the 5,000-meter race when, at a little over halfway through the race, the runner in front of her, New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin, tumbled on the track. Abbey tripped over Nikki and had clearly injured her leg during the fall. Abbey was able to get to her feet and her first instinct was to help Nikki off of the ground, rather than to try to get back into the race.

Now, as heartwarming as D’Agostino’s gesture was, here’s the truly inspiring part of it all: she finished the race. That may not seem all that difficult at first thought, but there’s more. After the race, Abbey learned that she had completely torn her right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), suffered a tear to her meniscus, and strained her medial collateral ligament (MCL). With all of those major injuries, Abbey managed to finish the race. This story moves me every time I think about it; she is truly inspirational!! That was my favorite moment in the Olympics, and it’s a story I will never forget.

After the Games had ended, Abbey and Nikki were given a very rare award for their sportsmanship – the Pierre de Coubertin medal. This medal has only been given out 17 times in Olympic history and has been called, “one of the noblest honors that can be bestowed upon an Olympic athlete.” Congratulations, Abbey, you are very deserving!!

I, for one, cannot say good riddance to the Olympics!!

The end to the VCR (Video Cassette Recorders) era has arrived. Last week, Japan company Funai Electric announced that it would no longer manufacture VHS (Video Home System) after July. With the production of betamax video tapes being stopped last year, VHS was the lone survivor of the VCR era, a title that has been short lived, and just like video killed the radio star, DVDs, On Demand and high definition have killed the VCR.

History of the VCR

The VCR debuted in 1975 with the introduction of Betamax. Two years later, VHS came on the market and by 1987, VHS controlled 90% of $5.25 billion VCR market, which it dominated for 20+ years. The DVD player, which was the next wave of technology to sweep over the home entertainment system industry, appeared in the early 1990s. However, it did not become mainstream until the early 2000s when, in 2001, DVD sales surpassed VHS sales.

Today, there is a whole generation of adolescents and teenagers that have never even seen a VHS cassette, let alone could they figure out how to get a VCR to work. For a closer analysis about the history of the VCR and it’s impending demise, please see a recent article posted in Forbes. Continue reading The VCR: Good Riddance or Sad to See it go??

Thanks for stopping by to visit!! Welcome to, “The Good Riddance.” This is my first blog and I’m very excited to get it started. I’m currently working on finalizing a couple of articles, so please check back tomorrow to see my first one. I really think you will enjoy this blog, there’s lots to discuss!!!

Just to avoid any confusion, this blog is not about the 1997 hit by Green Day. However, that was a very popular song and I certainly don’t want to leave anyone hanging, if that’s what you came here for. So…here’s the link to the video.