Blog Bowman

Might be down but not out

2009-03-04T20:39:00.001-05:00

I'm looking to make a comeback... One of these days

4-Wheeling

2006-03-12T22:16:00.000-05:00

Today, I went 4-wheeling with my brother and his friends through a rough wooded terrain--it was a blast! We travled our 4-wheelers through rocky creeks, over fallen down trees, climbed steep hills and even crawled through mud pits. We took some photos and videos of our travel through the woods and the last shot was from a video so the quality is not the greatest. I hope to capture more footage and make a complication video of us 4-wheeling.

Congats to Tommy & Heather

2006-02-28T18:01:00.000-05:00

Tommy and Heather went up to NYC for the weekend and by the time they came back home they were engaged. Tommy and Heather have been dating since November 2003 and are looking to spend a lifetime of memories together. They are planning on having their wedding sometime in June 2007.

Once again, Congrats!!!

Come on March

2006-02-27T17:40:00.000-05:00

I have to admit, the weather this winter has not been as bad as our past years but I am ready for the warm weather coming strolling back in our every day lives. After tomorrow we are about to go into our trickiest month, March. Hopefully, we'll have warmer days than cold days because I am just sick of coldness.

Note to everyone: I think I'm coming down with something so my mood is terrible =/

In the meantime, check out this Marriage Contract--he is a sick pup.

The Vagina Monologues

2006-02-16T21:07:00.000-05:00

Jennifer has been working hard over the past few months as apart of the production " The Vagina Monolouges". It's a series of monologues from women who have had common experiences in their lifetime, ranging from sexual abuse, going to the gyn, periods and childbirth. This year the V-Day spotlight focuses on "Comfort Women", who were women used as sex slaves in the Japanese War. These women are demanding an apology from the Japanese goverment for what was done to them. This will be Jennifer's second year in the play and this year its held at our local community college, Harford Community College and will run for three nights. Some tickets are still available. If you have never heard of V-day or Vagina Monologues, please take the time and explore this site.

"V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls." --Vday.org

Amber Alert!

2006-02-10T19:19:00.000-05:00

There was spill of a few days where my Mom and I hadn't seen each other due to conflicting schedules. Before I knew it, there were missing poster of myself around the house and she even went as far to put one on the milk carton.

Welcome Back To The Employment World

2006-02-08T22:31:00.000-05:00

Well, it's offical--Bowman is off the unemployment market.

It was a good day

2006-02-03T16:38:00.000-05:00

I went Yellow Perch fishing with a good buddy of mine, Justin. We caught a decent amount of Yellows along with hand fulls of crappies.

Clever Hunter...

2006-01-29T23:43:00.000-05:00

For years now, my cat, Buckeye goes outside and brings back his prey every so often. Well, I finally understand how he does it. About a week ago, Buckeye was chilling around the house and before I knew it he was on his back with his to two paws in an akward position. I looked to my brother and said, "Oh my god! Look at Buckeye." He laughed then I decided to touch him to wake him up but never moved and he felt cold and stiff. My first thought was buckeye must had died and rigor mortus had started its course. I looked at Eric and said, "Oh shit! I think he is dead! What are we going to tell mom?" Buckeye is very attach to Mom for those who did not know. So I tried to hit him again but with force. He finally woke up with a little meow. I guess it was his way to say, "leave me alone." I bet he uses this tatic to catch his prey due to being clawless. Beware of B*U*C*K*E*Y*E

Gateway is just like Dell--Crappy Service

2006-01-27T01:46:00.000-05:00

I bought a Gateway laptop 7422GX about a year ago because the specifications on it were the best bang for the buck. I have to say the computer itself was sweet. Since the purchase time, I have wiped the computer out just once with the preinstall recovery software provided by Gateway. Everything went smoothly! My girlfriend has a Gateway laptop 7210GX model and I had a terrible time whipping out her computer. There was no recovery method preinstalled on the computer. There was no back up version of the software or an image of the hard drive on a different partition. The only recovery option I saw on the computer was a directory that had all the drivers and other critical OS components. It was a back up of the C drive but it was located on the C drive. Therefore, you cannot restore those files while being on the same drive you are trying to restore. Who ever at Gateway was in charge of setting this feature up on her laptop did a terrible job. On top of it all, I went to the Gateway support site and most of the driver they provide with this laptop did not even work. A good friend and I were out on the internet trying to find the correct drivers for all the hardware components. Luckily we did after a few days of searching high and low. I just want to say --> GATEWAY, YOU SUCK!

Shhoeee, I feel a lot better =)

Graduation Pictures v1.1

2006-01-18T12:31:00.000-05:00

My step-mother had passed along some of her camera shots from my graduation. Thanks Jane.

Graduation Pictures

2006-01-16T14:06:00.000-05:00

Mom's Birthday

2006-01-14T12:44:00.000-05:00

Today, is my mom, Jackie's birthday! She is 51 years old and still going strong. I am very proud of everything she had accomplished including raising two boys who have become decent men. Thanks Mom! You can contact her by email if you wish to add a special message to her. Jackie's Email

Blogger-Blogger

2006-01-07T23:52:00.000-05:00

Have you ever seen a Blogger-Blogger before? Well, you’re just in luck! One week ago, a few family members had gotten together for their annual Christmas exchange and then head to Fell’s Point for bar-hopping. A good friend/future cousin was eyeing me down with a camera. Was I to back down? Heck no! So I grab my fierce Olympus Digital Camera and gave it right back to him. Before you know it, we have ourselves Blogger-Blogger or also known as Pic-n-Pic. Please go and check out the other half of Blogger-Blogger Pragmatik .

UB graduating.....

2006-01-06T23:58:00.000-05:00

That's right folks! The time is near and it is gonna happened, Bowman is finally graduating!!! The ceremony will be help at the Lryic Opera House in Baltimore, MD., within the University of Baltimore campus. What time will it start? The ceremony will begin around 2 p.m. on January 8th and should last about two hours. Am I able to see this event? Unfortunately, only those who got a ticket for the event is able to attend due to a finite number of tickets. On the contrary, those who don't have a ticket can still see the graduation via internet. If you have some type of broadband connection such as cable, DSL or satellite then you will have no problem watching the web broadcast. Here is the link for those who wish to see this event. Remember graduation starts at 2 p.m. and it's this coming up Sunday.

For Windows Media Format University of Baltimore Winter Commencement
For Real Player University of Baltimore Winter Commencement

Sophie

2005-12-31T18:36:00.000-05:00

Sophie is the new addition in the Adam's household. She is 9 weeks old and currently weighs 14 pounds. Sophie is a Golden Retriever and Lab mix. Both of her parents are pure breds. Sophie came from a breeder in Catonsville and was one of 13 puppies. We think that she wasn't given a lot of love and attention since she craves it from everyone in her path. Sophie is currently being create trained and so far, hasn't left any "surprises" since the process has started. It did however, take her a couple days to realize that she was going to be in the create when no one was home or around her. The create is referred to as "Sophie's home".

Sophie loves being outside. She loves leaves and especially loves when the wind blows the leaves. She also likes to roll around the lawn and when she is ready to come inside she sits "pretty" by the front door. Sophie's favorite toys are her raw-hides and her tug-of-war chewy.

Sophie still has a long way to go with all of her training, but is doing an impressive job so far adjusting to her new family and her new environment. She is the top DIVA in the house! Sophie looks forward to celebrating the new year and many more years with her new family that adore her.

Tis The Season....

2005-12-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

I want to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday. Let this holiday time bring you warmth and love from all your loved ones.

Merry Christmas!!

Only a few days before Christmas

2005-12-22T20:30:00.000-05:00

We are only a few days away from Christmas and everyone is out getting their last shopping needs for the holidays. I am done with my shopping luckily with the help of my girlfriend who just loves to shop. She implies shopping is like therapy but only cheaper--go figured. I hope everyone have a safe holidays and enjoy those precious moments with your family and please don't take for granted. With that note, check out this cool video of synchronizing music to Christmas lights.

My Last Paper of My Undergrad Career

2005-12-15T22:23:00.000-05:00

Can Americans survive on minimum wage current standards? Barbara Ehrenreich answered this question in her latest book, Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting By in America. Barbara has already developed her good name by writing twelve books, some of which have been named on the New York Times Best Seller list. As she ventured off from her high class status and made her entrance in the lower class, she began to realize that blue collar workers are not lazy, which is a common label placed on them. Since our government set standards for low paid workers, it is up to us, the American citizens to exploit these standards because with them in place Americans cannot survive.

Barbara Ehrenreich sets up three locations around the United States in her trial of being a low paid worker, her goal is to see if she will be able to survive earning minimum wage. Her first stop was in Key West, Florida. She a waitress. Her second stop was in Portland, Maine and this time she was a cleaning lady and worked in a nursing home. Finally, her last stop was in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she was a Wal-Mart associate. At each of these locations Barbara had to find lodging at affordable rates and pay for all of her necessities. As she tried to manage to stay a float from this project Barbara begun to understand that Americans cannot really make it in America with just one job.

Barbara exploited how the job market for the lower class is tough and has a quick turn over ratio. For example, the lower class workers will turn in applications but never seem to get a response. So, Barbara came to the assumption when she was trying to apply for jobs from the want ads, “Most of the big hotels run ads almost continually, if only to build a supply of applicants to replace the current workers as they drift away or are fired, so finding a job is just a matter of being in the right place at the right time and flexible enough to take whatever is being offered that day” (p. 15). Also, low wage workers have to physically work hard on their feet all day and everyday; meanwhile, the body can only handle so much abuse and workers have to take time off or quit to let their body recoup. This is why low wage workers cannot survive in America because the pay is so little while there is somebody there waiting to take that job.

Barbara exploited the lodging market in America by scrambling around to find the lowest and safest affordable housing in each of her three locations. In most cases, Barbara stayed in motels for most of her lodging because of the availability. When she talked to her co-workers about their living conditions some were sleeping in their cars or staying in motels as well. In Minnesota, the housing market was so stiff that she had to stay in a motel for $245 a week which she claims is “…scandalously high, higher in fact than my aftertax weekly pay will amount to” (p. 150). On top of that, the motel didn’t have locks on the door or screens in the window. With the higher cost of living and the lows of minimal wage, Americans cannot survive off this equation.

Barbara exploited by the standards of minimal wage that Americans have to multiple jobs in order to survive. At each location Barbara did her investigation she had to obtain two jobs just to make ends meet. Two jobs bring exhaustion and self-inflicting pain to the body. Nobody can maintain a hectic and frustrating cycle on the body year after year. Barbara, herself was having a hard enough time to handle the physical work just in a month work. Minimal wage needs to be readjusted so Americans can survive in a low class work environment.

Barbara exploited how management took advantage and treated their employees with unfairness. When Barbara worked at her second job in Key West, the job environment was hazardous. When Barbara was in Portland, Maine she had an encounter with co-worker, Holly who had twisted her ankle while on the job. Holly was afraid to tell their boss what had happened because she didn’t want to lose the valuable pay or even worse, her job. As Holly apologized to the boss for falling, Barbara was getting upset over the unfair treatment her employer was dishing out. So, Barbara got on the phone and said, “…can’t keep putting money above his employees’ health and I don’t want to hear about ‘working through it,’ because this girl is in really bad shape” (p.110). Holly had a few days off afterwards but her only options were to take off and nurse her ankle without pay or work to pay for her injury. Without Barbara there pushing Holly to voice her injury, the injury would have went unnoticed and management would have taken advantage of yet another low class worker.

What Barbara explored in her investigations was surprising to both her and the readers who are engaged in her book. Barbara uncovered an epidemic that many Americans fight each day, just to make ends meet or put food on the table for their family members. Barbara only did three months of low waged work; however, she got an understanding how hard it is to survive in America. With finding adequate lodging, food, and employment that any other lower class citizen, Barbara still couldn’t get ahead and feel comfortable financially. Also, she had some benefits throughout her investigation by having a car, which carries along a car payment, and money stashed away in case of an emergency. If that is not evident enough, Barbara even took time off between the jobs to recoup from the physical abuse that her body had encountered through her rigorous work schedule. After going through what Barbara had to endure she still couldn’t make it and she only had to worry about herself. If Barbara can’t make it on her own in addition to cutting corners, how can Americans survive in America on minimal wage with no corners to cut? They can’t.

UB Last Finals

2005-12-12T22:21:00.000-05:00

This is my last week of school as we head into finals. I only have to write one paper on a book called, Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich due on Thursday. Also, I have one final in Database with a project due on the same night--Thursday. Then, I am all done with school. Yay! Now, give me a beer! I was supposed to have a final on Wednesday night but since no one in my class has completed their e-commerce site. The final was cancelled and the e-commerce site is worth double. Enough with the bullshit, like I said before, pass me a beer--it's all over!

No NYC this Christmas

2005-12-08T18:34:00.000-05:00

Every year that I have been with Jennifer we made a journey to New York City. We usually take a bus ($45 roundtrip) and spend the whole the day together visiting NYC finest venues such as: plays, China town, Ground Zero (a few month after 9/11), Central Park and of course Time Square. I think this year with everything being so crazy with school, family, and Christmas that we are going to put off the trip until after the new year. It sad that we are going to break our routine trip but it is better this way. We can enjoy the christmas holidays while not having to put out extra money. The picture above was taken on one of our past trips to New York and I added a comic book effect with photoshop.

Quick summary of Punta Cana

2005-12-06T05:04:00.000-05:00

As many of readers know, Jennifer had surprised me with a trip to Punta Cana for my college graduation gift. We stayed for 4 nights, 5 days. She decided to booked through Apple Vacation, because our last trip though them was great. The apple rep greeted us at the airport and took us right to our destinated bus. The bus ride wasn't as bad as some of the reviews that Jennifer had read. (There were tons of pot holes in the road and at times we were zig-zagging down certain roads) Apple had supplied us with a charter bus, so we felt less bumps, compared to some of the other smaller shuttles. The ride was about an hour long, but we were interested in seeing the country, so we were focused on looking out the windows. We arrived to Secrets and were greeted with champagne and a cool damp towel for those who were in shock from the heat. After being refresh by our greeters, Jennifer went to check in and was asked if she wished to upgrade to the Excellence club. Due to past reviews Jennifer had read, she declined and was told that the room wasn't ready. I truly think that this is because Jennifer had declined for the upgrade. We went to have lunch in a buffet setting and came back about 45 minutes later and still the room wasn’t ready. This time we had a drink at the bar and waited the 20 minutes that they said it would be. Still, the room wasn’t ready. Jennifer kicked up a fuss and within 5 minutes the room suddenly became ready for us. The room was a standard garden view room. The room was beautiful. We had a jacuzzi tub, 2 bottles of champagne, a fruit basket and flowers that decorated the room. We were glad that we did not do the Excellence upgrade. We relaxed for awhile and went to the Apple meeting that we were scheduled to attend. (This meeting is usually standard for giving general information about the country and what to expect, highly recommendable) For our first dinner at the Boudreaux, which was amazing and watched the nightly entertainment, which was ok, kind of cheesy but entertaining. Tuesday we just relaxed by the pool and went to the beach party that night which consisted of wonderful food. Wednesday we went on our first excursion, the Outback Safari, this was an extremely long day. They picked us up at 9am and we didn’t get back to the resort until 5pm. We toured a Dominican home, a plantation, tasted sugar cane, green oranges and locally grown pineapples. We were also taken to a ranch and had Dominican food for lunch, we didn't really like the food, but many of the people did enjoy it. We were then taken to a beach to boogie board. The waves were extremely rough, so not a lot of people participated. The tour guides also had us stay in a confined space. By the end of this day we were exhausted. We asked how long it would take to get back to the resort and were told 15 minutes...15 Dominican minutes, which means 1 hour. On Thursday we went on our second excursion, which was deep sea fishing. The man arrived at the resort to pick us up at 11am. We picked a few others up and traveled about an hour to a beach. We hopped on a small boat which took us to the fishing boat and hoped on. We went about 6 miles out to sea. The diesel fumes were extremely strong. People were feeling really sick. We later knew that it was from the diesel fumes and not the motion. After catching nothing we went back to get ready to get off the boat. While waiting for the smaller boat to come get us, I noticed that smoke was coming in from the side of the boat. The boat had caught fire!!! Yeah, that's right we paid $200 to catch fish but instead we caught fire. Luckily, a guy that was with us works on boats, so he knew what was going on. The second boat came just in time to get us back to shore safely. The sad part is, I told the Apple reps and the very next day our same tour guide was at the resort picking people up to go right back on that boat! SCARY!!!!All in all, we had a great trip. I might not recommend the deep sea fishing though. Secrets was beautiful. The staff was nice, not overly nice like Cancun, but nice. Our room was beautiful and clean. The food that we had was very tasty. The drinks weren’t very strong, but Jennifer liked the Pina Coladas. Very relaxing trip for 2 college students in their last year!!

Happy Birthday Rohm Harry

2005-11-28T19:55:00.000-05:00

It has been two years on November 3rd that my step-father has passed away in a heartbreaking motor vehicle accident. He was on his way home from New York City where he drives everyday in his eighteen wheeler and somehow he collides with another semi. The other eighteen wheeler was not completely off the road while leaving his tail end of his trailer out for a clip. Sadly, Harry hit other truck and flipped over and catching on fire. A near by truck driver pulled over and dragged Harry out of the truck. He stripped himself down to nothing because he was engulfed in flames and began trying to find the status of his opposing victims (he always put others before himself). Later, Harry was flown to Chester Burn Center where he lived for three more days. We all had hope that he will over come this tragedy but God took him into his arms instead.

Now you all know who Harry was and since he continues to lives in spirit, he is now 50 years old.

Sometime in near future there will be a bio of Harry--stay tune!

Mike starts his journey in Kuwait

2005-11-27T19:24:00.000-05:00

A good friend of mine, Mike Green left the good states of America to be contractor in Kuwait. He will be helping cleaning out vehicle after they have been bombed or ambushed. It's going to be a tough job since he'll be giving up his safety and family back here in the states. He'll be in our thoughts as we continue to send him gifts to remind him of home. We all love and care for you Mike and good luck with your one year duty over there.

Can I get a ride on your camel?

NOTE: This picture was taken the night before departing from United States

The twins turn 52!!!

2005-11-20T10:36:00.000-05:00

I would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Garry and Mill. Today the twins turn 52!! Garry was very excited a few years ago to get his AARP card and proudly carries it in his wallet. As for Mill, she still looks very young and loves to drink Long Islands.

Both Garry and Mill have wonderful families. Mill has 3 sons, John, Tom and Joe and a daughter in law, Frankie who is married to her oldest, John. Frankie and John are currently living and going to school in Illinois. Her second, Tommy is very busy with school and work and not to mention his girlfriend, Heather who he has been with for about 2 years. Heather will be graduating from Towson University in January with a degree in Nursing. Tom will also graduate from Towson in May with a Music degree. Her baby, BabyJoe, loves playing Call of Duty. Joe also likes to work on computers in his free time. Mill lives in Baltimore City- Hampdon, Hon and is married to a wonderful man, John, who is very involved with the Boyscouts.

Garry, the so called "afterbirth," lives in Harford County with his wife and 2 daughters. Garry has a very successful job and has many things to keep him occupied in his spare time. Garry likes to go fishing, play pool, spend some time at the slots and play with his cats, which are very important people in his life. Garry's two daughters, Michelle and Jennifer also have boyfriends. Michelle and Mike have been together just over a year. Michelle graduated from Frostburg two years ago and is working in data entry for a company in Harford County. Mike is getting ready to go to Kuwait for a year to be a private contractor. Jennifer and myself, Kevin, have been together six and a half years. Jennifer will gratuate in May from The College of Notre Dame of Maryland and go back in June for her Masters degree. She is currently a Special Educator for children diagnosed with Autism. I, Kevin ,will graduate from the University of Baltimore in January with a degree in Information Technology. I am currently a student worker at UB. Garry enjoys hanging out with the boys on Sundays and watching football together. Garry's wife, Barb, keeps him in line. Barb likes to go to the slots as well and likes shopping. She basically runs the house and does a great job at it.

The twins' entire family are comming together today to celebrate their birthday with lots of family love- and maybe some fun bickering as well!!

Here's hoping the two of you share a memorable birthday together and have many, many more to come!! CHEERS....