| Galway |
[Nov. 19th, 2009|06:53 pm] |
So I've spent yesterday and today in Galway on the western coast of Ireland. It's an amazing city. I really enjoy it here. The food has been good, the music has been great. We finished last night and tonight in a pub called Tis' Chiloi' (I'm writing that so I can remember it). It's known for its traditional irish music. It's a jam session. Whoever shows up plays. It doesn't matter what instrument, they just play. AWESOME music. If I ever get back here, I'll end up at this pub. (*God, please let me get back to Galway!*)
Did a bit of shopping and sight-seeing. Went to the Burrens (county Clare)region and took great pics. The rain has been the worst in 20 years this week. So many roads flooded we had to turn back twice. A local farmer on his tractor came up to us stopped in the middle of the road before a LARGE water crossing. He asked what we were doing up there. We told him we were just lookin' around. He said "Go back to Galway! Or I'll be pulling you out with this!". My boss laughed for 5 minutes. We heeded the farmer's advice and retreated to Galway. Those Irish roads are hell after rain and in darkness!
Tomorrow we have a meeting in Shannon - but I don't need to prepare!!! We're there to learn about far flung jurisdictions from people that know more than we do. So it will be a learning experience, but I don't need to prepare anything in advance. (thank god). After the meeting we'll work our way back to Dublin and do a little sight-seeing along the way. We'll likely catch some music and a pint (or three) in Dublin. On Saturday we're headed home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (flight leaves at 1pm Dublin time)
This has been an amazing trip and I feel really fortunate to have been able to visit Great Britain and Ireland in a week. But it will be VERY nice to be home. I missed Jessie's Honor's assembly today - she got straight A's on her report card and was honored in front of the school! So there is a tradeoff to taking these trips.
Maybe one more post tomorrow... bear with me as I don't have twitter, nor a way to access the internet other than the hotels. Er... this may also depend on my condition tomorrow as my boss REALLY want to do one more pub crawl in Dublin. (Guiness is great, but I can only take so much in a week!).
Hope all is well on your side of the pond. Good night! |
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| Dublin |
[Nov. 17th, 2009|08:51 pm] |
So it's 130am in dublin. I may have had a pint or two.
Dublin is a very dangerous city. There is a pub on every block. But I really like are the numerous payphones thru out the temple bar district. These phones are located on every block. They make it extremely easy to drunk dial. And the name on those phones? Smart tel!
Signs you may have had too much to drink in the pub:
you wish you knew aarons phone number so you could call him while the entire bar sang "burning ring of fire". Nothing like an irish version of a johny cash song.
You decide to sample Irish whiskeys you can't get in america.
Slighlty drunk blogging from your iPod touch because the hotel charges to connect the computer but wifi is free.
The temple bar district is amazing.
Good night! |
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| Greetings from Manchester, UK |
[Nov. 16th, 2009|08:22 am] |
While you all are pleasantly asleep, I've landed across the pond. I landed in Dublin around 4:30am local time, and then caught a 6:30am flight to Manchester. Unfortunatley I didn't sleep much, so now I'm headed to bed! Thank god the hotel allows early checkin.
First impressions:
Aer Lingus was very nice.
The pre-flight lounge for $30 was worth it! Sandwiches and free booze. 2 drinks of canadian whiskey really helps the nerves.
Irish people look... well.. Irish!
Dublin was cold and wet.
Manchester is colder and wetter.
Landing in Manchester in a storm is not something I need to repeat.
When attempting to land, should I (the passenger near the wing) be staring down at the runway?!?!?! We bounced a bit, but all is well.
Now I'm tired!
Sightseeing later today, meetings tomorrow, return to Dublin tomorrow night. |
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| Chivalrous or Creepy..... |
[Nov. 10th, 2009|02:49 pm] |
From a recent article, here the 8 date behaviors that some women may find creepy, while us guys might think we're doing the right thing.
[1. Ordering my meal for me. This has always struck me as bizarro, because chances are you don't know what I want. The only time this is cool is if I have no idea how to pronounce something and you do.
2. Letting me win at a game of Scrabble/pool/bowling when you are clearly better. No fun! Please give it your best shot. I want the satisfaction of really beating you.
3. Using a code term for going to the bathroom. Especially retro words like "tinkle." You can just say, "I'll be back in a minute." I'll get it.
4. Pulling out my chair. Someone told me this tradition started when women wore loads of crinolines and, thus, scooting in your chair was difficult. That's no longer the case. It just makes me nervous that you won't push it in at the right moment and I'll land on the ground with a thud.
5. Carrying my purse. Yeah, it's heavy, but I'm pretty used to it at this point. You carrying it just looks funny. I have enough of a hard time with murses.
6. Asking my dad for my hand in marriage. So outdated. Pops just shouldn't be involved in our relationship. No one should know you want to marry them before they do.
7. If you're paying for dinner, not letting me put in for tip. Or get a round of drinks after. If I offer, it's because I want to. I swear.
8. Helping me put me coat on. This is sweet, but it's always awkward because my hand misses the sleeve or gets stuck somewhere in there. It's easier to just do it on my own.]
So here's my take - please bear in mind that, as I am married, this applies to my dating days and to the knowledge I will pass to my son.
1. I don't presume to know what someone wants to eat. I may order a bottle of wine for the table though.
2. LET YOU WIN!?!?!?!? Are you nuts? I'm not letting you win anything. Girl, date, wife... forget it. You gotta bring your -A- game if you want to beat me. (See current Wii tennis record as an example.)
3. I don't use cute words.... for anything. And I know how to be discreet... for anything. 'Nuf said.
4. Ok. So I might do this. At McDonald's? Not so much. At an elegant restaurant and my wife is wearing a dress, probably. Just goes with the gentleman's code. Don't get offended. I'm not suggesting you aren't capable. I know you can eviscerate the wait staff with your high heels while preparing a better meal than the chef. I'm just being considerate.
5. I will -RELUCTANTLY- hold your purse while you're in the changing room of a lingerie store. And this is ONLY because I know I'll get the benefit of any purchases. While you're trying on shoes? Don't think so. I'll hold the box of shoes, the purse is your problem.
6. And now we have reached a touchy subject. I was informed that if I asked her dad BEFORE I asked her, the answer would be an emphatic 'no'. Only I was raised to meet every dad before taking a girl out on a date and to ask him for her hand in marriage first. We "compromised" on asking him immediately after the proposal. I will teach my son to meet every father (even if over the phone) before taking a girl out and to ask her dad about marriage BEFORE asking the young lady. Old fashioned? Yes. Deal with it. It's the right and respectful thing to do.
7. If I ask you to dinner, I'm paying... for all of it. Why? Because I asked. If I can't pay, I'm not asking. Don't get offended when I won't let you throw in the tip. Today I may soften my stance a bit and let you get the first round of after dinner drinks. But it won't be easy. This is NOT a sexist thing. This is a "I asked you out so I'm taking care of it" thing. If Riley gets asked out, I will teach him to offer to pay, but politely accept dinner from the young lady. See... I'm not so old fashioned.
8. This is situational. I will help if the dress / outfit you are wearing makes it difficult. I will offer, but won't be offended if you decline. So don't be offended by my offer. It says nothing about your abilities or a woman's place in society. I'm just being nice.
Watching my son navigate the dating waters will be fascinating. Standing back while he finds his own balance between man and gentleman will be a challenge. Hopefully his grandfathers and uncle will be around to provide guidance and some good stories along the way. |
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| oh canada, part deux |
[Oct. 19th, 2009|02:02 pm] |
So I spent 3 full days at the Dorval airport for training. We make planes, so that's a pretty good place.
Here's a brief wrap-up...
The coffee issue I mentioned was solved in 2 very important ways:
1. There was a water main break on Thursday which impacted water quality. Therefore NO COFFEE! 3000 employees, no coffee. Yes, this was painful, but the mid-morning nap was nice.
2. Upon further inspection of the menu I realized that there is no medium size. Only petite et grande. So.. in the eyes of the very nice cashier, I'm an idiot American who only wants it his way. On Friday, when the coffee was restored I innocently asked for a grande coffee. -Problem solved.
Speaking of coffee... I don't know who Tim Horton is. But someone needs to teach that man to make coffee. Because his tastes like it was mixed with cinnamon and gym socks.
The translation issues continued. These are even funnier coming from very proper, Quebecois professionals:
Instead of "impacted" a nutty-professor-type instructor informed us that people may be "contaminated" by the new system. Which is too bad, because there is no vaccination for the new system - I asked.
Another instructor could not say "in isolation", but instead kept saying "annihilation". That was pretty funny.
But my favorite misinterpretation was from the same women who said "stratijickelephants". She could not think of the term "candidate" - like job candidate. Instead she substituted the word "member". Which lead to the following:
"We hope that if the peoples hear about the new system it will help attract quality members. And we like quality members! We must continue to grow the quality members."
Yes, I turned into beavis-n-butthead. I could no longer control myself. I had to close my eyes and bite my lip. I promised myself that I would not open my eyes until I could look at this very nice woman without laughing. A minute or so later I opened my eyes. Better she think I was sleeping than know what was in my head.
In closing I offer a bit of seminar etiquette:
If you have the perfect analogy for what is being discussed, BEFORE you share it with the room, ask yourself the following:
(a) Is it really necessary for me to share this in order for the room to understand the concept? This is particularly important if you are the 5th analogy offered! - and -
(b) Do I really want these people knowing that I can compare my job to that of a grocery store checkout line?
-just food for thought.... |
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| oh canada... |
[Oct. 14th, 2009|08:39 pm] |
I'm in Montreal for training ..NO.. not THAT kind of training. Work stuff. Pretty interesting and pretty intense. This will be part of my job for the next 3 years so I need to pay attention.
Some random thoughts on my first day:
Thank you Montreal for being almost as confusing as Boston. I really enjoy doubling back to the right and going under the bridge in order to go left. That's awfully nice of you to give me such a scenic view of your bridge architecture.
When in training there is always that one guy, that one overly polite naysayer who wants to know how this impacts HIS team right now. He is unwilling to wait and hijacks the session for his own purposes. We've got one of those! The woman leading the session is very knowledgable, but just too nice. She puts up with way too much crap from this guy.
Language Barriers!
We had a quebecois guy come in for a special section of training. For some reason this man could not think of the english word "eliminate". Instead he constantly said "evacuate". So you'd here him say,"Those metrics are not evacuated, they are still very important." This was funny at first... 20 minutes in and I was rolling inside. Just kept getting funnier.
Another woman instructor kept saying "stratajickelephants" (all one word). It took a good five minutes before I realized she was saying "Strategic Elements". Again, just kept getting funnier as we discussed these for a half hour.
I ordered a medium coffee.... four different ways. And still wound up with a small coffee. I have no idea how to communicate to the very nice woman behind the counter that I want the cup in the middle. I tried. I failed. I took my small coffee politely and left.
IKEA!
You queen of the over consumption gods. You bewitching pantheon of flat-pack goods. You're a siren who "evacuates" any sense of direction. You heartless, wallet eating bitc.... "OOOOH, 107 wine glasses for $3.99?!? I need 107 wine glasses. I don't even care if their name has no vowels."
Ikea is not for the faint of heart or loose wallet.
Bon soir! |
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| PSA - ETH & Dropkick Murphys |
[Sep. 28th, 2009|03:06 pm] |
If you like live, raucous music then its time to mark your calendars.
Enter the Haggis is returning to Higher Ground on Nov 19 (Thurs) and the Murphys will be in town just 2 days later Nov 20 & 21. (Note: the 20th is sold out!) This is the weekend after Monty, so you no you have nothing going on. : ) |
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| Dominoe Monday |
[Sep. 14th, 2009|10:05 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | work | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  anxious | ] |
Did you ever spend an hour setting up dominoes in a really intricate pattern and then have a sibling or the neighborhood bully put their finger over the first dominoe? They might even touch the dominoe just to watch you squirm. Just screwing with you. Well, that's my Monday. |
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| non sequitors |
[Sep. 3rd, 2009|09:43 am] |
I read that Curt Schilling is thinking about running for the vacated Ted Kennedy seat. No idea if this actually true. Now, I love Curt - he helped give me and my dad something I wasn't sure we'd ever see. But this man campaigned for Bush and McCain. If it's true, I think Curt's missing the boat here. I don't see the people of Mass giving the Liberal Lion's seat to Conservative Curt.
It has occurred to me that you can tell which companies are doing well and which are not based on the references to each in literature. When I was getting my degree Microsoft was all the rage. I read countless case studies about Microsoft. They were in EVERY textbook, even the accounting ones. Back then Apple was like a puppy humping the technology leg - small and annoying. Nobody talked about them unless it was a "what-not-to-do" discussion. But times have changed. Read any article on (a) innovation, (b) creativity, (c) design, or (d) the future of technology and Apple gets top billing. They are an author's go-to company. I would love to see how many books published in the last 2 years mentioned Apple - maybe a comparison of Apple / Microsoft. Or other companies... which would get the largest number of references? GE? I think this would be an interesting observation. And I might adjust my portfolio accordingly. (Though this might be backward-looking)
I've spent the better part of 2 months giving all of our bedrooms a much-needed face lift. Not to sound old... but when I was 20 I could work like this all day, have sex all night, get up the next morning and do it all over again. Not so today. I'm realizing that I'm approaching the age where the money I save by doing the work myself is offset by the cost of Advil, band-aids, and comfortable work shoes. This is not sitting well with me. The problem is that I still consider myself to be 25. I can still do anything I want to do. I just tend to forget the recovery time... or maybe I don't factor it in.... or maybe I just ignore the hell out of it. One thing, however, has not changed. I still GREATLY underestimate the work / complexity of the project at hand and plow ahead with enthusiasm and optimism. And watch them whither and die in about 2 days. : )
Speaking of projects. If I could just do the work, I'd be really happy. But it doesn't work that way. To every project there are these bookends called preparation and clean-up. I swear to you that these 2 things take longer than the actual job! Anybody want to clean the paint rollers? No? Ok, I'll just leave them until they solidify and make post-consumer artistic statements with them. Is there a grant for that?
Life's little pleasures meme:
Cold beer after manual labor.
Clean sheets.
Curtains that block the too early sunlight.
Children who are old enough to mow lawns.
Realizing that anything beyond 80% of perfect is close enough and the deficit is unrecognizable to the average person. |
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| PAINting |
[Aug. 19th, 2009|08:53 am] |
While in college I painted for a living one summer. At that time it was a simple formula:
1 gallon of paint = 2 coats and 4 beers.
Today we've finished our room and Jessie's room. We're finishing up Riley's room. At this stage of my life, I've noticed that the equation has changed a bit:
1 gallon of paint = 2 coats, 2 beers, and 10 advil. |
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| Annual reminder - TAX HOLIDAY! |
[Jul. 31st, 2009|01:02 pm] |
This year the Vermont State Tax Holiday will occur on Saturday August 22, 2009.
So what does this mean? It means that you will not be charged taxes on "Sales of items of tangible personal property costing $2,000.00 or less purchased for personal use are exempt from sales tax and local option sales tax on the Holiday." See: http://www.state.vt.us/tax/2009sth.shtml for more info.
In 2008 Amy and I took advantage of this to save the 7% tax on all the materials for our patio. A 7% savings is awesome... but this year it gets even BETTER!
Thanks to TARP there are now significant tax credits (up to 30% of cost or a max of $1500 PER TAXPAYER) to invest in certain EnergyStar products. So if you were considering (for example) new doors, windows, insulation, water heaters, etc... you could "double-up" by purchasing EnergyStar products on August 22. No sales tax for an immediate 7% savings AND you get the tax credit! See: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index for more info as not all products qualify.
I don't own a crystal ball, but I believe there may never be a better deal than not paying the state tax AND getting a federal tax credit thrown in.
Happy home improvements! |
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| So... what is death? |
[Jul. 23rd, 2009|01:18 pm] |
Apparently Michael Jackson could have been investigated in the mid-2000s for his prescription drug abuse. Authorities elected to focus on the molestation charges facing him. The theory today is that they all missed an excellent opportunity to help him. Which I certainly agree with. But this quote from Loyola Law Professor Laurie Levenson puts it in perspective...
"Sadly, if they had pursued it, Jackson might not have been in this situation."
Situation? Is death a "situation"? Do you think MJ knocked on the pearly gates and said, "Pardon me. I seem to find myself in a bit of a situation. It's more of a predicament really. Broken down? Oh, no... I'm dead you see. Can I phone a friend?"
I think 'situation' understates it a bit. But the word does make death feel more comfortable, ya know? Like it's temporary. You'll be fine in the morning. Just drink one glass of water for every time you died and take 4 advil. There's going to be a bright light and you'll get slapped on the ass, so cry, Ok? And off you go...
Does this mean we can have sit-coms about death now?
SNL's Coffin Talk...
It's a Wonderful Afterlife....
I see dead people. "Hi everyone!"....
God really does play skeeball*....
FUNeral!
*Bonus points if you get the movie reference.
thanks for the brain break... : ) |
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| Tweat-esque |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|12:52 pm] |
The next time I log in the office will be relocated to the basement!!!!!!
*is excited* |
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| Summer time? |
[Jun. 12th, 2009|01:40 pm] |
Here's a snippet from a recent interview with Joss Whedon where he was asked about Summer Glau....
[Whedon says, "but we didn't honestly go into the (second) season going, 'Now how can we figure out how to service Summer?' when we already have a huge ensemble. I adore Summer and she's phenomenal, but I have to service the cast I have first. If something comes up that's good enough, my God, I'd hound her."]
Hmmm.... from a man who choses his written words so carefully, I can only assume he knew exactly what he was saying. Lucky bastard.... |
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| Chaos Demons |
[Jun. 10th, 2009|02:24 pm] |
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Based on the Kindergarten 'graduation' I attended today, I would have to say that Chaos Demons get their start working in Elementary Schools. Kindergarten is like the Single 'A' affiliate of the Chaos Demon farm system. |
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| First things first.... |
[May. 26th, 2009|09:04 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | marathon | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  grateful | ] |
Thank you to all who rolled out of bed just to stand in the rain & cold ... and then bake in the sun. Having family and friends out there really makes this so much more fun. Your cheers were great and made Jessie's day. She really enjoyed the applause and smiles and yells. I think you've helped create another marathon fanatic! WE truly appreciate you.
Thanks to Aimee & Jeff who picked up the food so Amy could get us home.
Thanks to Jules for helping pick up at the end so I could play poker and Amy could relax a bit.
Thanks for not picking on me for my brief nap around 5pm... which I hadn't intended on, but sorta happened. : )
And another HUGE THANK YOU to Amy who coordinated almost everything (from food plans to cleaning to invitations to... etc...) so that all I worried about was resting after the flu and getting Jess prepared. Pretty much everything else was on Amy's shoulders. Did I mention she even painted the lawn chairs? So, yeah... I owe you a big day off... with a massage... and buff, scantily clad men feeding you grapes. We'll work out the details : ) |
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| Another 20 in the books. |
[May. 4th, 2009|03:02 pm] |
Yesterday I ran 20 miles.. 20.4 to be exact. This is the ninth time in my life that I have run 20 miles or longer (4 marathons and 5 training runs). There was a time I would have thought, "who's chasing me for 20 miles?", because that was the ONLY way I was running that far. But now I do it willingly. Just absurd... : )
( Some things I've learned ) |
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