Jon Levine

April 21, 2014

Addictive personality

I’ve always considered myself to not have an addictive personality. That’s not to say that I don’t have vices, I do. Lots of them. None of them, however, have ever gottent the best of me. I’ve always felt that they have been well controlled and never interfered with, what I’ve always considered to be, my responsible life.

Sure, I like to drink. But, I’ve never skipped work to go to a bar at 10am and get drunk. I like to gamble, but not enough to throw my rent money away. I’ve even done drugs, but none of them has ever ‘had a hold’ on me.

I say all of this as I’m staring at a Starbucks. That’s significant because I drink Starbucks coffee nearly everyday. I do my best not to miss it and, when I do, I’m not in the best of moods. This revelation made me reevalutate what I always thought to be true.

Maybe I do have an addictive personality. Maybe I’m actually very addicted to things that I enjoy. I mean, I’ve continued to do them for the better part of my life. Maybe instead of thinking that I don’t have an addictive personality, I should start thinking that I have a ‘well-controlled’ personality. I have addictions, I’m just able to keep them in check. But, does that make them addictions at all?

March 9, 2012

The iPad 3 and my unrelenting sickness

Of course you all know that the ~~iPad 3~~ new iPad was announced the other day and, as expected, I bought it. So, why am I writing about what seems to be some non-news item? Well, it’s because of how I bought it. You see, I’ve given in.

I used to make excuses of why I didn’t need to buy that new, shiny gadget. How the current one I owned was up-to-snuff and that there was no reason for me to upgrade. Then, a few weeks later, after seeing other people walking around with a new gadget that I didn’t have, I’d buy it. This time, I’ve just given in to my sickness.

So yes, next week I’ll have a shiny new iPad which, arguably, will be better than my current iPad. Ironically, I feel sort of liberated. I no longer have to make up explanations as to why I will be holding the new gadget that just last week I said I wasn’t going to buy. It’s kind of nice.

Oh, and I upgraded my Apple TV as well.

February 11, 2012

Argh! South Florida Drivers!

Here’s a tip to all other drivers on the road in South Florida: there’s this little stick located on the left side of your steering wheel that, when push up or down, will activate your turn signal. This signal, for those that don’t know, is used to tell other drivers which direction you may be heading. I know this sounds crazy, but as it turns out, it might be helpful for me to have that information.

The second step in using your turn signal, is to turn it off when you’re done using it. In doing so, you won’t give other drivers a false sense of what you are actually going to do. This in turn can prevent other drivers from pulling out in front of you thinking that you may actually be making a turn.

That is all.

February 6, 2012February 6, 2012

My Super Bowl Party in 4 Minutes Flat

I held a Super Bowl party at my house and used one of my webcams to snap a frame every ten seconds of us watching the game. I then took those snapshots, all 2,300 of them, and compiled a time-lapse video of the party from start to finish.

There’s a lot of eating, a lot of drinking and a lot of my nephew right in front of the camera!

Enjoy!

February 3, 2012August 20, 2018

Out with the old (deck), in the with the new (patio)

Well it’s out with the old and in with the new. When I bought my house it had this old wooden deck that was in my backyard. It was ripped up, rotted, and definitely falling apart. I finally decided, after nearly killing myself by falling through it, that I needed to put in a new patio. Voilà!

After searching on Angie’s List to find a contractor that does pavers in my area, I came across BrickPaversFlorida.com. They came out, gave me an estimate, set up an appointment, and knocked out the entire thing within 14 hours. I mean in the 1st day, they ripped out the old deck and the laid about three quarters of the patio. The 2nd day had them only finishing up the laying of the brick and putting down the sand. They were done with the whole thing by 11:30 in the morning. I was shocked how fast it took.

Thanks to my good friend Nicole Facciuto, I found a stone and a color that ended up turning out fantastic. The stone is called New Miami and the color is called Marble Slate. It reminds me of an old Italian courtyard.

I now have a beautiful, safe place to entertain family and friends. Now if the Florida weather would just get cold enough so I could light the fire pit, that would be great.