MikePirone.com

News, Updates, and a Blog

03/13/12

Addicted to Costco - guest post

I did it again, I wrote another article for "Addicted to Costco"! You can read my article at the following link:
Self Scanners at Costco

02/29/12

Leap Day & Espresso

Well, I've never posted an update on a Leap day before, so why not today? I finally ordered an espresso machine, which is something I wanted for Christmas but was backordered for quite some time. My goal is to make coffee as good as what I had in Italy, where espresso is a part of life - they even have walk-up espresso bars in the piazzas. Plunk down a euro, get a shot, take a few minutes standing at the bar and head out. No paper cups like Starbucks, but no seats either.

01/26/12

Air Force One

Yesterday, President Obama came to the Phoenix area. I went out to the airport to see Air Force One (a Boeing 747-200B) and it is an impressive and beautiful aircraft. Of course I took the camera, and the photos are available by clicking here

01/01/12

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! We are back from a visit to NJ and PA for the first time in over a year. We saw family and friends, and had all our favorite east coast foods that we can't find equals to in AZ (bagels, pizza, and cheesesteaks). Now it's time to see what 2012 brings us!

12/25/11

Merry Christmas!

We wish all our Christian friends and family a Merry Christmas!

11/03/11

Job Satisfaction

This story is written by a coworker of mine. He does the same job I do, so it hits home...


Last night, my family and I had gone to church and I was wearing the black Block III [Apache] shirt that had been given to us for the Nov. 1st Block III [Apache] activities. After mass, a stranger tapped me on the shoulder and asked, "Do you work for Boeing ?" I told him yes. He then asked, "Do you build the Apache ?" I responded that I was a software engineer and that I worked on the Apache. This man then said, "Thank you! An Apache saved my son''s life. Because of you guys my son is still alive and he has two girls." This gave me goose bumps and brought my wife to tears.

A few minutes later, I saw this man again and decided to ask if his son was a pilot. He broke down crying and told the event that happened back in 2003. His son was Army Airborne when he and 3 others were pinned down taking fire. His son called in for air support but figured nobody would get there in time. His son had already accepted that he was going to die that day. An Apache came in, laid down ground fire, made sure the squad was OK, and stayed until they were safe. His son said the Apache and pilots were his angels. The man, completely in tears, again said, "Thank you". I told him that his son was the one who deserved the thanks for his service. He responded, "No. Thank you guys. And keep building those things".

We hear many times from management how we are making a difference, but when a complete stranger breaks down and thanks you for saving his son''s life, it is very humbling to know that everything we do, no matter how small, makes a difference and we should be proud of what we do. That day we had a part in impacting not only the life of a soldier, but an entire family.

I agree with my coworker; Thanks and God Bless to all of our armed forces.

10/06/11

Addicted to Costco - guest post

I know I've been bad about writing here, and a lot has happened since Teri Ann's birthday. But this post is to mention that the website "Addicted to Costco" published my article!
You can read it here: Costco Announces Membership Fee Hike

07/08/11

Happy birthday!

Here's wishing my lovely wife a happy birthday!!

06/10/11

Same site, new host

There haven't been updates in quite a while, and I apologize to the few readers I have. Rest assured, we've been busy though!

If you are seeing this post, then you are now seeing my website being broadcast from its new host. They are Hostgator.com and so far their customer support has blown away the old guys by an immeasurable amount. They even moved all my pictures and databases for me (for free) to save me the effort. This also means that if you have any issues, please e-mail me so I can fix them.