Domain Swap

You may have noticed that the blog now loads on www.davidrocci.com instead of davidrocci.blogspot.com - Blogger has a function to allow custom domain name usage at no additional cost and still allows you to utilize their tools. I hope this is the beginning to building up my custom site... a goal I've procrastinated for a long time. I have a lot of plans for expanding this domain; I'm looking into a new design, integrating some real estate MLS/IDX searching as well as some other fun stuff.

Great Time to be a Massachusetts Sports Fan

Moving from state to state has it's benefits. You shed the less desirable memories and retain the best. You share stories of triumph and leave behind the blemishes. This is one of the few benefits of frequent moving.

But, lately, it's been a chest puffing, pride enfusing moment to acknowledge my New England roots as a Massachusetts native. Our sports teams are kicking ass and taking names. The Red Sox just sweeped the Colorado Rockies in a World Series that was shockingly abrupt. After 80+ years with no world series title, the Boston Red Sox now hold two World Series Championship Titles in the last four years. Wow!

The New England Patriots (Foxboro, MA) are stomping on asses every week. Last week they destroyed the Miami Dolphins and this week they annihlated the Redskins (sorry Brent). Even the Boston Bruins kicked the crap out of the Chicago Blackhawks... and landed a few cheapshots while they were at it.

I doubt this series of goodwill towards New England sports will continue with the Boston Celtics but who knows... maybe they will have a break-out season, too.

All in all, I'm proud to originate from Massachusetts - even from my cushy suburban hometown of Sandwich. When it comes to game day, we are all from the same home state and we all cheer together!

Late Night Mutterings

desperation in my glance;
hoping for acknowledgement;
feel the pain from my stare.
prescribe an antidote.
long for the connection;
to cure the pain.
confused by emotions,
frazzled by feelings;
come take it all away.
free my soul from agony;
i cant stand the pain.
you think you know me,
but all you want is selfish.
understanding me;
is part of us,
but the disconnect is too far,
too far to bridge the gap.
love and compassion,
is about giving it freely.
sharing in pleasures,
and the sufferings.
i wish you could see,
the suffering.

Confessions from Sunset Ridge MX

This past weekend was fun... well, mostly fun. I spent saturday traveling with my supportive wife to the middle of nowhere, Illinois - a little town called Walnut. Actually, Walnut is so small, the closest hotel was 17 miles away in Princeton... which is still about 2 hours west of our suburban locale. The track is called Sunset Ridge MX and they were only track within driving distance that still had any races left for this season.

We made it out there around noon so I could sample the track I would be racing on Sunday. I explored in my first 3 laps, then got another good 5 under my belt. In my last set of timed practice, I was pushing my 6th lap in an effort to increase my stamina for the upcoming race. I let off the throttle just a dab too much over a huge double. I cased (landed too short) and endoed (nose first) the landing and went flying off the bike. Another head crash, smashed up elbow and such a deep tissue bruise on my hip/thigh that the bruise is only just now starting to surface. Damn that hurt, maybe I should stop pushing so hard?

After two ibuprofen, as many beers and some pizza, the pain wasn't so bad. But the truth is, I was already questioning if I should race on Sunday. As anyone that plays sports will attest, confidence, or lack thereof, will make or break your performance. And so went a weekend race down the tubes.

I woke at 6am on Sunday, wondering if the Red Sox pulled off another win against the Rockies and wincing in pain as I rolled to get up. I almost tripped over my dirtbike on the way to the bathroom and wondered if I would make it through the day. Oh yea, I brought the suzuki into the hotel room so nobody would steal it off my trailer. :) Thanks to the unsuspecting foreigner at the Econo-Lodge (classy joint) for allowing me to bring it in. I'm pretty sure he thought I meant a pedal bike.

ME: I called and asked for a ground floor room with exterior access.
GUY: We have ground floor. No exterior access.
ME: I can't leave my bike on the trailer. Can I bring it in?
GUY: OK sir... I guess. Please pay for room now.
ME: Great, I'll go wheel it in now.



C class started practice at 8:30am and we were the first class on the track. It's freezing cold, the track is freshly groomed, wet and deep loamy dirt; nothing like the actual track conditions during a race. Not only was it a waste of three freezing cold, mud splattered, partly visible and torturous laps, I slid out on the final turn before the finish line, flopped over the handle bars and knocked the wind out of myself.

Can you remember the last time the wind was knocked out of you? It felt like a 300 pound gorilla sucker punched me in the gut. I gasped for air and wondered if it would reach my lungs before I blacked out. I crawled off the track, moaning a deep, guttural groan as I tried to avoid getting hit by any bikes behind me. Panic swallowed me as I ripped off my goggles and helmet and struggled for breath. It was almost as painful and challenging to exhale as it was to inhale. I could hear people talking to me but couldn't make out the sounds. I was sure my groans were freaking people out. It seemed like forever passed but I finally caught my breath. Phew... maybe I should call it quits already?

I was in the first practice class that started at 8:30am but I didn't have my first race until another 1.5 hours of practice and 13 other races ahead of me. The ibuprofen was still working, the pain seemed manageable and it was showtime. I wandered to the starting gate to wait my turn to be called. Begin butterfly swarming.

The gate finally drops and I'm off to a decent start. The track is beat up with lots of deep ruts but at least it is dry. I make the second turn and my mouth feels completely parched. Not just thirsty but actually parched; lips feel ready to crack and breathing seems to scrape through my mouth and into my lungs. My quads are burning over the first set of whoops and I'm only on the first damn lap. Halfway through I feel completely exhausted. Yesterday I was pushing 6 laps and today I feel whipped and I haven't completed one.

Then, it gets even better. On the final lap after I've completely given up hope of actually competing in this moto and just trying to finish, I get caught with my front tire in one rut and my rear in another and pancake down to the ground AGAIN. I angrily pick myself back up to finish 8th out of 13.

The pain and exhaustion compounded to a point I'm ashamed to admit. The fear, anxiety and lack of confidence combined for a terrible performance and at least another week worth of nursing injuries. Maybe I started racing too soon... maybe I just need more practice... I thought I had conquered some milestones with motocross racing but this last weekend chopped me down a couple notches.

New Nutraceutical Supplement Provides Simplified Approach to Diabetes Management Programs

Diabco Life Sciences, the company I work for is in the news again. Check out this story for additional information about Type 2 Diabetes Diets, treatments, information and natural insulin resistance. Diabatrol offers a simple, natural and supplemental approach to diabetes management and diabetes treatment.

From the PRNewsWire article:

The new product Diabatrol, a performance-proven nutraceutical supplement produced by Diabco Life Sciences in Carmel, Indiana, works by helping to reduce oxidative stress and insulin resistance, two key concerns for Type II diabetics and pre-diabetics. Not a prescription pharmaceutical, Diabatrol is a nutritionally balanced, gluten-free, low glycemic, hypoallergenic neutraceutical that contains more than 80 antioxidants from whole grain derivatives. Consuming Diabatrol is a simple act of opening a small pouch containing the water soluble product, mixing it with a favorite beverage, and consuming it twice a day.

The desired result for patients ismore balanced overall nutrition and a convenient, simplified approach tomanaging a blood glucose metabolism and helping reduce the complications associated with the daily routines of diabetes management. A typical diabetes patient often takes several medications each day, including two or three different pills to control blood sugar levels, one or two to lower cholesterol, two or more to reduce blood pressure and a daily aspirin to prevent blood clots.

http://www.healthydiabetic.com

Sandwich High School 9.5-year Reunion

It looks like I'm officially getting old. I thought I had at least another 8-10 months until our 10 year reunion since it's not officially 10 years until June 2008! But, the powers that be have decided to combine the class of 97 and the class of 98 into one big happy reunion. And, they will be holding it on Friday, November 23rd.

I feel bad for all those people that planned weight loss or gym trips or artificial enhancements to 'wow' their former classmaters because the timing of the announcement is pretty short-sighted... and leaves a very narrow window for body image improvements. Of course, not everyone is concerned about body image but I'd be willing to bet $1000 that every single female in the class of 97 and 98 from Sandwich High School had a passing thought about what can be accomplished in the next 41 days.

Where: Aqua Grille, 14 Gallo Road, Sandwich, MA 02563
When: November 23, 7PM-12AM
How much: $30 per ticket in advance (purchased by November 15) or $35 at the door
Ticket includes light appetizers and drink ticketsTickets can be purchase online at Sandwich High School reunion.

I'm looking forward to the event. I hope the notice wasn't too short for old friends to make accommodations to make it.

Davey Does Dallas

I was trying to think of something funny for the subject that had a ring with Texas or Dallas and here is my thought process: debbie does dallas...oh! davey does dallas... wait a sec, isn't that a title of a porn movie? hmmm, and davey does dallas sounds like gay porn. Maybe I should change the title... ?

One of my best buds, Jesse, has a place just outside of Dallas where he recently began working as a Quantitative Analytics Manager for some fancy pants financial institution. He travels frequently from our home town (suburbs of Boston) to Dallas and we finally decided to connect in Texas since I've never been to the state coined with the phrase, “Everything is Big in Texas.”

I cashed in a voucher from American Airlines and flew for free - my favorite price. The visit was generally fun and catching up and re-telling stories we've each told each other a dozen times is still amusing. In our cultural exploration of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area we discovered some truisms about the Dallas Cowboys - they ought to be called the Dallas Cougars... for their agility, prowess and cunning. These 'cougars' are ogled and admired even as the franchise begins to age; crowds cheered and sang jubilantly as they scored. Even considering this AA-game performance, the Patriots are better!

...it was almost as fun as watching the alma mater play college football… or the Minnesota Twins in St. Paul/Minneapolis.

Not to mention the fact that our New England Patriots rocked the crap out of Miami and the Boston Red Sox won the American League division to secure another trip to the World Series. It’s been a fantastic season to proudly lay claim to our Massachusetts roots – we have a lot to be proud of.

All in all, it was a perfect guy’s weekend of beer and sports and reconnecting with a great old friend. I look forward to visiting again soon.

Motorola Q

How many people have cellphones that can take pictures, video, browse the internet, bluetooth, infrared, beam contacts and do a thousand other features they will never use?

I've had a pda phone for over a year now and only in the last month have I begun the realize how much easier this little sucker can make my life. It had so many features that it overwhelmed my to inaction.... so I did nothing with the mini-computer except make calls. Well, occasionally I would snap a picture message and I love to text message.

A recent problem I had was the growing discrepancy between my calendar reminders in my phone and on my computer. I'm slowly stepping away from the paper lists and piles of sticky notes (I said slowly!) and beginning to rely more on my devices for scheduling my days. The problem was that I could be on the road and set a reminder or appointment into my phone or I'd be at my computer and copy/paste an event into my outlook and neither device was synced with the other.

I set out on the daunting task to install the Motorola Q software on my laptop and it was surprisingly easy. Then I thought that this software must be cumbersome and annoying to navigate... or at least hog my memory (RAM). And again I was surprised; the software was super easy to use, doesn't require a lot of resources and automatically detects when I plug my device into the computer.

A simple connection via usb, the phone syncs my contacts and calendar in about 30 seconds, does a cute little beep and I'm done. Voila! It's that simple to synchronize my life... I mean, my devices.

I had been holding out for an over the air syncing solution but for now, the manual syncing for contacts and calendar is OK. I won't even begin to mess with email until I can get over the air syncing. The possibilities for uber-cool scheduling over the air is nice for when I have a secretary but for now, I'm glad I finally decided to install the software. It only took a year... who knows what I might discover about this device in the next year before my contract is up!

Lesson: maybe you should make it a goal this week to try one new feature on your over-featured phone! Feel free to post your results as a comment to this blog.

First Motocross Podium Finish

As mentioned earlier in the week, I placed 3rd in the last race of the year at JolietMX. I'm extremely proud of how much I've learned in the past 13 months of riding and this plaque represents many hard crashes and overcoming a lot of fear.

New Race Results

My first race experience a couple weeks ago was not so successful, however, this past Sunday I mustered up the courage to race again and took home a 3rd Place Plaque! This race consisted of two motos which were reduced from five laps down to four because of the number of riders at the track and the time constraints of allowing every class to race.

I raced in the 250-C class again and I'm very happy I stepped up to challenge myself in this class. There were 9 riders again and I took home 3rd overall. I managed to stay on the bike and not crash at all. I've eased up on the wholeshot (this is when all the bikes line up at the gate and everyone races to the first corner after the gate drops) and aimed to keep a steady pace in lieu of burning out after two laps.

I almost thought I would not be able to participate in the last race of the season because I crashed really hard in practice after the last race and bent the bolts on the bar clamps that hold the handlebars onto the bike. After two hard crashes and three days trying to get the bike fixed, the guys over at DGY finally helped me get it repaired on Friday afternoon.

Adri got some great footage of me passing a guy in mid-air over a huge stadium jump. I passed another guy through the whoops because I finally learned how to double them instead of dinking over them one by one. The video footage is on our digital video camera. Thanks to Tom we finally have a firewire cable to hook it up to the computer but the only computer with the firewire port has 250MB of RAM and video editing is not such a great idea on that computer.

I will post a pic of the plaque soon and hopefully upgrade the RAM in our PC with the firewire connection to get some video action going on.

World's Longest Paint Job

We started painting our two-story foyer and the wall leading up the stairs and into the loft back in May. Needless to say, getting paint up to the peaks of the two-story foyer is pretty difficult so we stopped painting. We intended to get some scaffolding or hire someone to finish the paint job.

After the second coat of paint in the areas I could reach I noticed the colors were drying in two different shades of 'Country Club'. I gave it a couple more days thinking it may still be wet but the color differences were still obvious. I checked the codes of paint mixtures on the top of the cans and everything matches. A few more days go by and I still cannot figure it out... finally, I realize the bright chap at Home Depot mixed one of the four gallons of paint with the wrong base!

So now the whole painting attempt has officially turned into a fiasco. Two colors, half-painted up to the ceiling... what a mess! This lead us to a terrific solution: ignore it for almost 5 full months. When people came over we laughed and joked and everyone got used to the two-tone color and only half the foyer being painted. We got a few quotes to paint but there is no way we were paying $1000+ to have a couple walls paint.

This last weekend we finally picked up the paint brushes, rollers and this time we armed ourselves with a ladder (thank you Andy and Panita)! For anyone who cannot appreciate the height of a two story foyer, check out the picture attached to this post. I'm 6'2" and standing on an 12 foot tall ladder holding a 5 foot long extension pole with a paint roller attached to the end. It's a tedious and dangerous task to paint like that.

Needless to say, 2 gallons of primer (to cover the original attempt) and almost 4 full gallons (2 coats) of a fresh new color, the paint job is finally complete! If I ever see a paint roller again, it will be too soon. I HATE painting.

Here is a preview of the previous half-finished paint job:

Applying the first coat after the primer:

Recipe Fun with 100 Calorie Snack Packs

OK, so everyone has noticed that every snack making company out there has 100-calorie packs now, right? You can get Orville Redenbacher popcorn, yogurt, oreos and whatever else in cute, convenient, to-go size pouches and monitor your calorie intake all at the same time.

This concept is a worthwhile venture in that it allows people to snack but prevents them overeating. The problem is that 100-calories worth of oreo's or chips ahoy cookies is only like 20 thin wafers worth of cookies.

So I've created a solution to this problem. I tried it yesterday and it works perfectly. All you have to do is dip each chips ahoy cookie wafer from the 100-calorie pack into Jiff Extra Crunchy peanut butter! And Voila! You've created a much more filling snack and at the same time, increased your calorie intake from 100 to about 860. haha!

Jiff Extra Crunchy peanut butter is 190 calories for every 2 Tbsp. 2Tbsp covers about 5 of these little cookie wafers and there are about 20 per bag. Do the math and you've turned a healthy concept into a fat generating fiasco.

Rocci Genealogy Tree

I made an offer today to Lenny Rocci to purchase rocci.com from him. The guy has owned the domain since 2000 and it doesn't expire until 2011! His site is permanently under construction and I offered to turn it into a Rocci genealogy tree where members of our family, from all over the world, can attempt to trace our roots. I have no idea if I am related to this Lenny Rocci or not... but wouldn't it be kind of cool to find out?

A quick google search shows Riva Rocci is a Belgium rock band and Rosanna Rocci is a German pop singer. It seems our Italian roots have grown all over the world. And there was an internist and pediatrician named Scipione Riva-Rocci that lived from 1863 until 1937. In a strange twist, my brother is James Rocci and there is also a James Rocci that is the President and CEO of Rocci Insurance Agency in Louisville, Ohio. David Rocci has a realtor website but it's pretty amateur right now.

I was also thinking that in addition to the family tree we could also create subpages for each family that registered with the site and they could have their own blogs and photo albums and whatnot. Hopefully this Lenny guy will transfer the domain to me so we can finally put it to some good use!

First Competition Motocross Race Results

Well, my first competitive motocross race was this past Sunday. I crashed within the first 3 seconds of the race! As I inched my way up to the gate for my first race I was extremely nervous; butterflies swarming in my belly, nerves firing, arms twitching nervous. I lined up 3 slots to the right of the gate box along with 9 other riders.

Instead of hanging back a little and testing it out, I went balls out straight out of the gate. I was pulling ahead of the small pack when the rider to my right hit me... which bumped me into the rider on my left... which resulted in me flying over the handlebars and smashing into the ground.

I recovered quickly, kick-started the bike and got back on the track. I was so shaken up that I barely completed the first lap. I cased at least two more jumps and slid out in a few corners. I wouldn't be surprised if I had a mild concussion.

So, the first moto was a complete disaster and the second one went a LOT smoother. I actually finished this one. I placed 6th out of 9 riders on the second moto. I should have raced in the D class but I wanted to challenge myself so I raced in the 250C class.

I feel relieved my first race is over and the pressure is off. I feel like I was hit by about 14 baseball bats all over my body... and I have the bruises to prove it. I'll try to get some photos up soon.

All in all, some may say that David Rocci is best suited for practice and not competition but without competition, what's the point? I like to win! I plan to train harder and race another day.