So it's been almost a month...so what?

It seems like every blog entry as of that last serveral months starts the same, 'Sorry I haven't posted in so long, it's been busy around here..blah blah blah." Reality is...IT IS!

As the person who is in charge of JQ Family Rewards, I'm busier than I've ever been! Not only do I put new prizes up and put new points opportunities up, but throw some customer service on top of that...and it's almost a full-time job in itself. But please don't hear me complain, I actually love every minute of it! (Ok...almost every minute!)

So I bring up the business of JQ so you know how work is overwhelming, but there's another 'thing' in my life right now, that's been keeping me super busy all these months. I can't tell you quite yet, but in the coming weeks, I'll reveal, so check back, if you haven't completely given up on checking my blog!

That's all for now...talk to you soon!

~jeremy

Finally...

Since I can remember I played video games. In fact, just to show you how much I loved them, and how 'nerdy' I was, let me list all the systems I've owned in my lifetime:

ATARI 2600
NES (Nintendo Entertainment System)
Sega Genesis
Nintendo Gameboy
SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)
Nintendo 64
Sega Dreamcast
Playstation
Playstation 2
Microsoft Xbox
Nintendo Gamecube
Xbox 360
and Nintendo Wii

Don't scream...my parents didn't buy those all for me, most of them I didn't own until I was an adult with my own income. Anyway...during my time with all of those consoles, I can count the number of Positive, Encouraging, Christian, etc. games that I've played on my fingers and toes. (Meaning...not a whole lot!)

Usually they're something Mario related, since that plumber can do no wrong, but every once in a great while you can run across some real gems.

This day and age, I constantly hear about DDR's, Karaoke Revolution's, and the Guitar Heroes and Rock Band's. Now...they aren't naughty or bad, but sometimes the music isn't so positive.

Those days are gone...check it out:


Okay...so it's not really called Guitar Hero: Christian Edition, but it is called "Guitar Praise"...CHECK IT OUT HERE!

Rock on!

~jeremy

"Here I sit broken hearted..."

Ok...for those of you who know the rest of that childish poem...that's not where I'm headed. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about...you're probably better off.

Anyway...So...been pretty busy the last couple of weeks. Unity...JQ Family Rewards...those 2 things alone have eaten up a lot of my time at the station. But since I worked hard all morning and ducked out a little early, I've got some time...oh and because I'm stuck at the auto repair place to have my 'new' car looked at.

See...on Christmas Eve of last year, my Grandpa passed away...he had a lot of cool things...boats...house on the Gulf of Mexico...hand carved chess sets and more. Well, there was one thing he knew I liked most of all...and he left it to me.

It's a car...but no ordinary car...a convertible. A 2001 BMW Z3...Atlantic Blue...less than 35,000 miles on it! If you've ever seen the James Bond movie, "Goldeneye" then you know which one I'm talking about.

Well, I picked it up the Wednesday of Unity and last week Thursday that little annoying "Check Engine" light came on...guess I can't be too upset...the car sat for almost a year in Florida without being driven.

So here I sit...
Waiting...wondering how much it'll cost to get her up to 99%. Stay tuned.

~jeremy

Did you see it?

So...did you see it? I didn't. It was either because I thought it was later...or...we couldn't see it here. What? What am I talking about? Oh...sorry...I'm talking about the Solar Eclipse that occurred earlier this morning.

Take a look...
I like this picture...you can see one of those Solar Flares reaching out into space. If you'd like to see more of today's little display, head to NASA's site HERE!

~jeremy

I saw God this morning...

Okay...so maybe I didn't see God in the physical sense...but I saw Him is this lovely scene:


Anyone else see this lovely display? It happened right around 6:20 a.m., today (Friday). I was just sitting here at my desk, turned around, saw this...which my picture does no justice. There was also a rainbow to the west that was too big for my camera. I could see it start AND end!

OH! Almost forgot...since today is July 11th...7-11...don't forget to stop at your nearest 7-11 convenience store and grab your free 7.11 ounce Slurpee! If you live in the Holland/Zeeland area, there's one on Chicago drive by McDonalds, right before the entrance to I-96 (I believe).

Have a great day!

~jeremy

Another effect of terrible storms...

Sorry it's been a while...I've been kept very busy around the station with our new JQ Family Rewards program. I think I've finally caught up for the week, so I can finally catch up on some things I've wanted to share.

The month of June was pretty terrible when it came to storms and such. Those nasty storms even trickled into early July. Here's what happed at my house...

Looks a little bigger in person. Now...here's the irritating part. It fell on my neighbors fence, so as the responsible person I am, I'm trying to get it taken care of right away. Only problem is...almost all the tree places I called (last week and this week) can't do anything for me for another 2-3 weeks! Apparently...TOO many trees have fallen down. Hope my neighbors are understanding.

~jeremy

Anyone else see this?

I couldn't believe this...I went to check the radar yesterday for whatever reason and this is what I saw:



Wow...Can't really say I've ever seen that much rain scattered over the ENTIRE United States! I wonder when we'll have that much sunshine grace our presence.

Anyway...thought it was kind of cool to share...so there you go!

~jeremy

What are you doing?

Everyone's talking about it...no one can avoid it...it keeps getting worse. What am I talking about? Duh...Gas Prices! Yea! Everyone's favorite subject. Okay...so maybe "favorite subject" is a stretch, but everyone's talking about it almost all the time, you'd think it was for some people.

Well, this post will avoid being the rant side of things and instead offer up more ideas on how to relax, when it comes to gas prices.

First off, I think we'd all be a lot better of if we did a couple of things:

#1. Realize that there is nothing, I repeat NOTHING, we can personally do to lower the price of gas. You may get those emails, saying, "Don't go buy gas from these people and prices will go down...blah blah blah." I'm here to tell you...it'll NEVER work, because we could never get enough people to follow suit, oh and IF we could, I'd personally rather have that many people do nice things for other people, rather than lower gas prices. You know..."Pay it Forward" style.

#2. Ignore the news. It'll only stress you out and upset you. I think we all feel they only bring up the fact prices will rise, just so oil company's have a reason to raise them. Honestly, I doubt that it's true, but that's why I've just come to the point of ignoring ALL news coverage of gas prices.

Okay...now...here ARE some things, you've either thought of or not, that could possibly help.

#1. Combine your trips out. Instead of running out multiple times a day...make one trip, and plan it like a circuit, so you can make the shortest trip to each destination.

#2. S...l..o..w D...o...w..n. We aren't at the race track. I've got a GPS system in my car that once I program the destination, it'll inform me of my arrival time. Well, I've toyed with it...I've exceeded the speed limit and gone the speed limit, (to the same destination) and really you're only saving a couple minutes here and there...nothing to get all worked up about.

#3. Take some tips from "Hypermiling". Not necessarily a new idea...but it's catching on. I'm a fan. Basically, you alter your driving habits in order to maximize your fuel efficiency. In fact, I've been really working at this for a couple of weeks, and have seen a couple of things.

I've increase my average mile per gallon, almost to the point that I've exceeded what the sticker on the car said when I bought it. I've also noticed that I've relaxed a LOT more on the roadways. I find I don't get as upset with the slower drivers and I only laugh at the impatient ones.

This is already long enough, but I figure since I've not posted about gas prices...might as well.

~jeremy

We're back!

Alright...if you visited jq99.com or JQ Family Rewards today, you'll notice things are back up and running. That's all thanks to the thousands of hamsters in their wheels down in Texas keeping the power flowing to our severs. GOOD JOB guys, keep it up!

Okay...so there may not be hamsters keep us online, but a generator is! Amazing how dependent our lives become with technology. Well anyway...this post was really just to let you know that things are back up and running and I can finally go back to work and do my job.

~jeremy

Experiencing Technical Difficulties...

Alright...if you come here because you listen to JQ99 you probably know by now that our website has experienced some extreme difficulties over the last couple of days.

It started on Saturday and continued through yesterday...well yesterday afternoon things were working...and now yet again this morning...they're not. Turns out that this isn't just some little problem.

Apparently the Data Center that holds our Servers experienced an electrical fire and took down our Servers along with about 9,000 others! If it interests you at all to follow along with the action, the Data Center is updating us through the following web site...feel free to check it out!

The Planet - http://service-update.theplanet.com

Hopefully it'll be back up soon so I can do my job!

~jeremy