Ben Scoble's Blog

Waters Edge Grille

2008-11-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

Our new restaurant, Waters Edge Grille, is now open. We serve only the finest fish, seafood and steaks you can find. Check out our web site Waters Edge Grille. Come in on Sunday from 11am-2pm for our brunch buffet. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Villa Rentals

2007-06-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

A very good friend of mine, Steven Smith, has started a new venture called Whats Beyond. The purpose of this business is to locate villa rentals all over the world. These Villas are some of the coolest places to go on Vacation with your family or friends. This site puts you in direct contact with the people who actually own the properties ... NO MIDDLE MAN!!! Please check it out and let me know how it worked for you.

Benny's Tavern is born!!!

2007-04-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

For those of you who think you can run a restaurant in a 80 hour work week --- YOU ARE WRONG!!! I have been open now for 5 weeks and I have been putting in about 120 hours a week. Because of the new scene I am in, I had to create a myspace BlogBenny's Tavern. Please check it out for upcoming events. As for this space I will update it only for the personal stuff.

Benny's Tavern

2007-03-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post, but I have been working overtime trying to buy a sports bar/restaurant. It looks like Monday will be the day. Keep your fingers crossed ... PLEASE. I will update more on that if it does happen.

On the rocket front ... I have had a couple of engines burn out through the side putting the rocket into a flat spin. If anyone knows the cause of that please let me know. I have been using Estes "E" motors. I also can't seem to control the launch direction. Rocket leaves straight and then goes anywhere(Not wind related). This is getting frustrating because I keep losing rockets (3 this year). Also looking for a good place to launch around Richmond. Soccer started for the kids so my favorite place is out.

The Melting Pot

2007-02-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

Wow what a restaurant!!! My wife, Mary, took me out for dinner tonight at a place called "The Melting Pot". This is a Fondue restaurant. I thought fondue was dipping bread chunks in melted cheese ... boy, was I wrong. We started out with a bottle of champagne, then went into our first course, dipping bread into melted cheese. This concoction was a mix of 4 cheeses, pesto, marinara, and white wine. YUMMY!!! The next part was a ceaser salad, ok. Then ... we had the lobster with a coq au vin broth. Basically you stab some meat with a long fork and poach it until done, dip it in a sauce, and stick it in your mouth ... you go to heaven. The last was a bunch of fruits that you dip in chocolate. Pretty good, but I would rather eat food than desert. This was the most unique meals Mary and I have ever eaten. I would totally recommend it!!! We took Hannah, our 4 year old, and she loved it as well. What a great dining experience!!!

Bella Vino

2007-02-10T16:18:00.000-08:00

Mary, Hannah and I went to the grand opening party at Bella Vino this evening. This is a small wine store located in a strip mall near Buffalo Wild Wings on Hull Street Road. We had an outstanding time. They featured several wines from across the globe. Our favorites were a 2003 Nipozzano Riserva and a 2004 Red X. The Nipozzano is a Chianti which is begging to be served with some sort of pasta. The Red X is a blend(Can't remember the blend) that is from the California Central Valley. This is one of the most unoffensive wines I have tasted in while, and at $14 a bottle it won't break the bank either. I got 6 bottles of the Nipozzano and 12 of the "X".
This store is owned by the Vadella family, one of my neighbors. They have done a great job merchandising the store and their inventory is very global. It will be very nice to stop by Bella Vino on the way home and pair up a nice bottle of wine, no matter what the cuisine.
Hannah had a great time as well. She hooked up with the youngest Vadella. They spent a couple of hours coloring, writing stories and chasing each other around the store. It was very nice for us that Hannah had something to occupy her time.
It is nice to see a decent wine shop move close to our nieghborhood and I look forward to shopping there frequently.

Tim White Tourney

2007-02-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

I have just been told we will be hosting a captains choice tourney on Sat April 14, 2007. The proceeds will go to help our Pro, Tim White, get to Oregon to play in the National Club Pro Championship on June 21-24. Get you team together and sign up at the clubhouse. This should be an excellent event. Go get'um Tim!!!

Golf Weather

2007-02-10T08:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the temperature was a sizzling 40F degrees. The sun was shining and the grass was very fast. The perfect day to hit the ball around. I started trying to round up the usual suspects, and everyone seemed to be working. I think they were all afraid of the cold. I even tried tempted some of the scratch guys by offering them 3 strokes a side for $50 a hole(I am a 25). I ended up playing the round alone. I shot a 54/46 for a warm 100!!! I missed all the regular guys but I know we will be playing shortly. The only thing I don't get ... do I smell? Or are these guys just wimps?

Tired of the Bush Bashing?

2007-02-08T16:05:00.000-08:00

I had to have a little fun with this one. I got this "joke" from my little brother Alex. What he sent me is tagged "Yours", What i wrote I tagged "Mine".

BUSH BUMPER STICKERS:

Yours---- 1/20/09: The End of an Error
Mine----- 1/21/09: Are the libs complaining again?

Yours---- 2004: Embarrassed, 2005: Horrified, 2006: Terrified
Mine----- 1998: Embarrassed, 2000 Redeemed, 2001 Horrified, 2002 Justified

Yours---- No, Seriously, Why Did We Invade Iraq?
Mine----- No, Seriously, Hilary ... didn't you vote to invade Iraq?

Yours---- W's Making Enemies Faster Than We Can Kill Them
Mine----- We need to use bigger weapons

Yours---- Is It Vietnam Yet?
Mine----- Is it Glass yet?

Yours---- Bad President! No Banana.
Mine----- Bad Hilary!!! No Obama.

Yours---- We Need a President Who's Fluent In At Least One Language
Mine----- We need a pres who will kick some liberal ass!!!

Yours---- Bush -- Like a Rock. ----- Only Dumber.
Mine----- Obama -- like a terrorist -- only weaker

Yours---- They Call Him "W" So He Can Spell It
Mine----- They call him "W" cause he whoops ass

Yours---- One Nation Under Clod
Mine----- One nation under God - You infidel

Yours---- You Elected Him. You Deserve Him.
Mine----- I'm sorry your vote doesn't count

Yours---- Bush: God's Way of Proving Intelligent Design is Crap
Mine----- Bush: A man that forgot he is supposed to be conservative

Yours---- The Republican Party: Our Bridge to the 11th Century
Mine----- The Democratic Party: Our bridge to the Roman Empire

Yours---- Where Are We Going? And Why Are We In This Handbasket?
Mine----- And why are the liberals leading us there?

Yours---- When Bush Took Office, Gas Was $1.46
Mine----- When Clinton Took office, gas was $0.92 and a house was affordable

Yours---- Jail to the Chief
Mine----- Hail to the chief!!! Why would the "dems" mess up this song?

Yours---- What Part of "Bush Lied" Don't You Understand?
Mine----- What part of "Hilary tells the truth" Do you understand?

Yours---- Impeach Cheney First
Mine----- My Gun has killed less people than Kennedy's car

Yours---- At Least Nixon Resigned
Mine----- 1998 At least Nixon Resigned

Yours---- That's OK, I Wasn't Using My Civil Liberties Anyway
Mine----- I don't want terrorists to have civil liberties

Yours---- America: One Nation, Under Surveillance
Mine----- America: All Terrorists, Under Surveillance

If you would like to add to it please do. The funny thing is I am not a big fan of GW. I think he is too liberal. Under him the size of our government has increased and he has done nothing to secure our borders. Both are problems I think most conservatives would like to see handled by the next administration.

Golf

2007-02-06T16:08:00.000-08:00

As many of you already know, I love golf!!! I belong to a private golf club outside Richmond, Va. calledChesdin Landing. I also like meeting new people. If anyone that reads this would like to play a really cool course in Virgina, I would be more than happy to have you play here as my guest. I would also like to play other private courses ... ANYWHERE!!! I would even play with you LayZ!

Anonymous Bloggers

2007-02-06T07:06:00.000-08:00

I have noticed lately that the most negative and annoying bloggers don't seem to have a blog or a real name. I understand this in some cases. For instance if you were blogging about a convicted murderer, I would not want such a person to know who I am. But for much of the bloggosphere there is no reason to be anonymous. So I had to come up with a list of reasons someone would hide their identity:

1. Social Retard - this is a person who could only ask a girl to dance if they were wearing a mask of she was paid help.

2. Crap Disturber - this is a person who kicks the crap over just to regain the smell. We see these types never letting go of a controversial topic.

3. LayZ - this is a person who wants to be so annoying that people stop reading a certain blog, just to get away.

4. Spammer - someone trying to sell a product or a service. Or someone with a particular agenda.

I look forward to hearing some more reasons to be anonymous!

Chedin Golf Tournament

2007-02-05T06:19:00.000-08:00

Well it was really cold yesterday but the balls were flying. Once again Tommy Lesperance and crew won the tourney with a 7 under 65. The group I played with came in 4th with a 5 under 67. We will get them next year! Tim White did an outstanding job!!! This was a captains choice event and Tim White put together all of the teams. Every team had an A, B, C and D player. There was only 3 strokes different between 1st and last. Wow what parity.
Our next tourney will be the member/member here in April. I won this tourney in the fall with Corey Campbell and am looking forward to another good showing. Will keep you updated. Check out the MGA Blog.

Need more definitions

2007-02-04T03:41:00.000-08:00

Please help again ...

1. What does pingback mean.

2. What is a "linkblog"?

Re: Rockets

2007-02-04T03:14:00.000-08:00

Well it was very windy. Blowing about 15mph. I know there must be a calculation to figure out how far a rocket will blow sideways after reaching 1000'. There is no need to do it now. My rocket landed about 300' away in a tree, 2nd loss for me this year. Another friend also lost his in the same group of trees. The important thing was that our kids had a blast. Time to hit the net again and purchase another rocket.

Ugly faces

2007-02-03T08:17:00.000-08:00

I was digging around the redneck world(cause its funny) and I came accross a bunch of pictures of ugly faces I had to share with everyone.

I need defenitions

2007-02-03T08:08:00.000-08:00

I need definitions on a few blogging terms.

1. What is technorati?

2. What is a meme?

3. What is "A" lister versus "Z" lister

Please answer these for me and some of the other people out there that are trying to figure some of these things out.

Rocket!!!

2007-02-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

Check out Hannah's new rocket. It is called the "Weasel" manufactured my LOC. It is supposed to go up to 3000 feet. We will launch it for the first time at 4:00 est. I hope the weather holds up. Can't wait to see Hannah and our new puppy going crazy trying to fetch it.

My M&M

2007-02-02T13:19:00.000-08:00

I got this off my bros blog. His wife Maryam found a cute site on which you create your own likeness in the form of an M&M. Here is what I think I would look like as an M&M. This was very fun to do. Have a couple of beers and get silly.

The Zoo!!!

2007-02-02T11:42:00.000-08:00

Well, it turns out that golf may not be on the agenda for Monday as my wife and kid want to go to the zoo. I wonder how many monkeys I will have to deal with there. The Richmond Zoo is supposed to have one of the best Monkey exhibits north of Georgia. I just hope they will not be the type to fling poop on everyone. Enjoy your weekend and I will report on it later.

Superbowl Weekend

2007-02-02T11:34:00.000-08:00

This weekend should be pretty cool. My Sunday will start out with a captains choice golf tourney. It is pretty cold here so I hope we will still play. Then my family and I are going over to a friends house to play with kids, drink beer and watch the game. My money will be on Indy(as with everyone else). I figure it is Mannings time. Then we will head home gloating about the "Win" hopefully to play another round on Monday. I hope you all have a great weekend and if you are playing Indy as well, I hope you win money.

I got tagged by Alex

2007-02-02T11:10:00.000-08:00

Well Cilck hereAlex wants me to tell everyone the 5 thing you don't know about me.

1. I hate these thing even more than my brother RobertClick here. But I love them both so I am answering it anyways. Robert refers to me as a "z" list blogger, so I guess it is acceptable for me to do these list things.

2. I own a Matco Tools franchise. I love to further my relationships with my customers.

3. I love to drink beer, Miller Lite preferably(I don't get paid to say that).

4. I love golf. It's the only thing I really want to do with my spare time. When I am not playing well(almost always), refer to #3. There are a few courses in Florida I would love to play.

5. I am a really conservative man. I don't like liberals(except my whole family), I like guns, I think the government spends too much money(even George Bush), I don't believe in killing unborn children, I think the borders should be closed, and I wish the conservative talk show guys(Savage, Limbaugh, etc.) would stop calling people names. We have a better argument and name calling gets in the way of that.

This is the last time I will answer this question!!!

Still love ya bro!!!

My Mea Culpa….Cuppy’s is Okay

2007-01-25T05:10:00.000-08:00

Well, I had lost $30,000 from my deposit in Java Jo’z. I just wanted my $ back. I’ve spent the last week or so meeting with a local laywer, he got a bunch of information from Cuppy’s, and we went over everything. My lawyer in Florida had told me as much…so for the second time the lawyer’s tell me I am out of luck, so to speak.

Here’s what I learned: Cuppy’s is a totally separate company from Java Jo’z. Cuppy’s didn’t buy the company, they just bought some of the assets when it went out of business, which is like a real estate company buying Enrons building. It doesn’t mean they owe Enrons debts. I still think they could have made that clearer to those of us screwed by Java Jo’z.

So, I guess I need to set the record strait, or so the Richmond lawyer told me.

#1….Cuppy’s is not Java Jo’z. Different company entirely.
#2….Java Jo’z has my deposit and unless I want to go to a bankruptcy attorney (which is expensive) I cannot enforce my agreement against Java Jo’z.
#3….Cuppy’s appears to be running an above board operation. (Their franchises seem to be happy, and there is one right down the street from me.)
#4...Cuppy’s even offered to discount a building in their system so that I wouldn’t lose the money outright, but I don’t even want to deal with these issues anymore.

Here is a link to some background information on Cuppy’s click here

I will, however, not conclude this without making some suggestions to everyone out there investing in a franchise.

Do your due diligence. Review the company financials, drop in unexpected on the company HQ, get a complete list of franchises. And don’t get caught up in what others are saying online, either pro or con. Use your brain and figure out whether a franchise opportunity is right for you. I am out of this whole situation now. Lesson learned.