What's in a name?

"A name is an artificial and meaningless convention", as Juliet (Capulet) so eloquently put it.

At this time I find myself struggling to find that perfect name for my unborn child. Of course I don't have to worry about the battles between the Montague's and Capulet's, but I do need to worry of how my daughter is going to go about her life. No disrespect intended, however my wife and I grew up with pretty common names, where there were other Josh's or Laura's in our classrooms growing up. We do not want that for our children.

"Joshua" in 1979 was used 31,106 times and was ranked #9 most popular. "Laura" in 1984 was used 14,801 times and was ranked #19 most popular. My name outranks hers by over 16,000; however we both feel that her name was still just as popular growing up.

I don't want my kids to have crazy names, but something a little less popular. Jayla's name was ranked #99 in 2006 and used a total of 15,209 times in the past 8 years, even though we made it up.

So now I am at a stand still, how do I compete or compare my next daughter to Jayla in regards to the name? How do I come up with a name that can compare to that of her sister's. We have come to the conclusion of the following names:

Sadee - (that spelling) Has not been in the top 1000 names in the past 18 years and is not even on the charts yet this year.
Lilianna - Has been used only 904 times in the past 3 years, and was not on the chart prior to 2005. And has not climbed above #815 of most popular.

So tell me what you think. They are both well below the averages.

*Name data are from Social Security card applications for births that occurred in the United States.

Oil Myth, 3,000 miles or not?

I saw an interesting article on Yahoo about the amount of miles in which you should change the oil in your vehicle. It made me really think about why everyone changes the oil at 3,000 miles. I have done it just because that is "what I was told to do".

Not only are people changing their oil more than needed/required, we are also helping to pollute the environment. In fact this article states "Californians alone generate about 153.5 million gallons of waste oil annually". Question is, How much of this oil is due to changing your oil too frequently?

I know many people that would argue one way vs the other, such as Jalopnik, however in the state we are in with oil prices on the rise, we should at least consider the benefits of waiting a little longer than we are used to before changing the oil. Not so long that your engine ceases up, just enough to do our part for the economy.

Or at least take 2 minutes and read what "the experts" say. I was very intrigued by the knowledge and options that have now been presented.

The return of MY BOYS!

My wife and I got hooked on a show last year called My Boys, this show is coming back for season 3 on June 12th, and we are stoked. This show is about Baseball and reading the signals, with analogies to real life.

I love it, for anyone that doesn't know what this show is all about, you need to watch this clip. It is hilarious, best of all, one of the characters, Bobby (featured below), reminds me of my boss. I think it is more looks than attitude, but I can still see a little bit of him in Bobby.

The show is on TBS on Thursday nights, 9:30/8:30 central. I am so stoked that it is back, every time I see it I can not stop laughing, it is so funny.

I hope you all enjoy it as well.