Wow! It’s been a month since I last posted. That’s weird because a lot of things have happened over the last month. I had my interview for the Peace Corp. It went really well and they are ready to send me away for 2 years. It looks like I’ll be posted to Central Asia, Something-stan, as Dave and I have come to call it. I’ll know more when I’m medically cleared. The basic description I was given of the project was educating health care workers about AIDS safety. If I can get all the medical stuff done then I would go on this project as soon as June. If not then I might not go till November. I really don’t want to wait that long. So I’m in Pittsburgh right now trying to get it all done. I tried to do it in DC but when I went to the VA the PA I saw just gave me attitude. She was all upset about me not having a folder with my complete medical history. Next time I fill out a questionnaire on my health I’m just clicking all the no boxes. They don’t need to know about my knee surgery, do they? So I came up to Pittsburgh for 5 days. I saw the family doctor that I saw in high school and college. I haven’t been there since ’99. She didn’t seem happy about that but I’ve only been to the doctor once since then and I didn’t go there because I didn’t have insurance at the time. She was also upset that I had so many forms to fill out. She didn’t think there would be so many. This is a government program, what did she expect? Tomorrow I’m going to see the Dentist. He is a guy from my church here in Pittsburgh. I called to make an appointment and left a message on the office voice-mail because I kept calling and they didn’t answer. So the dentist called my parents and said that they didn’t have an opening but would work through lunch for me. I wonder if I can have pizza delivered to the office as a thank you. They shouldn’t be too upset with me; until they find out that I haven’t been to see a dentist in probably 3 years. But I’ll try to say that with pizza in my mouth and maybe they won’t hear me that well.
So after I make the dentist upset, I’ll get to the third and biggest reason I came to Pittsburgh, my friend Lori. She’s back for a little vacation, from India. She just finished her first year in India and is going back for another. It was pretty clear from phone conversations and her blog that she was coming back for good and then all the sudden she announces that she’s staying back for another year. So I’m interested to hear the story. I’m going to have dinner with her tomorrow. I’ll get the truth serum ready so I can find out all about the husband that she has found (see my blog description).
The other thing that has happened is that Dave is back in India. That’s good for 2 reasons. Now when I’m in Something-stan in a few months I’ll be able to visit Dave and Lori for a vacation. Also I can call India pretty cheaply. So during my time left in the US I can call him and annoy him for much less money.
I can’t wait to not have to work at The Fish Market any more. I’ll miss most of the servers I’ve been working with but I won’t miss ANY of the customers. I’m moving back to Pittsburgh at the end of April. Back to live with my parents for a few months till I can leave with the Peace Corp.
That’s pretty much the major happenings of the last month.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Saturday, February 25, 2006
L. Paul Bremer
I’ve been going to some book discussions lately. I rather like being in DC for them. I skip the poetry ones but I’ve been to three: one with Jarred Diamond (wrote “Collapse” and “Guns, Germs, and Steel”), one with the ambassador to Italy during the early ‘80s (wrote “Mission Italy”), and now L. Paul Bremer for “My Year in Iraq”. (I should note that I haven’t had the chance to read any of these books yet.) It was good to hear him speak. It restored my hope. It was really good to hear from somebody that was there and in the thick of what was going on. He was there and knows the score. He told us about how the Parliament is working for democracy and how there is hope. He told us how things are better there and how they will continue to improve. It won’t be over night like the press and many in our congress demand. It’s not a short-term mission; it will likely take decades to be over. I hope that we “stay the course” or rather than having improved anything we will only see it get worse. I really enjoyed hearing him talk.
I was upset that I got there about 15 min. late. Even though I left about 1.5 hours before it started. Coming back took about 45 mins. One thing that I won’t miss about DC, when I leave, is the traffic. I’ll miss the cool book discussions though. Its cool being in a town where there’s always something going on. I don’t know where I’ll be going next, yet. I have an interview at a lab at Ohio State U. It is in Columbus where my older brother and his wife live. It’s hard to know if I’m interested in the position or not. The description given is pretty generic and not really helpful. The interview won’t be till the 6th or 7th of March. So it will be a little bit till in know more about that. If I don’t go there, I’ll likely go back to Pittsburgh. I’m still applying for the Peace Corp. either way. I got that application submitted just after Christmas. I have an interview on Tuesday. I’m interested but I’m not sure what they will send me to do. I guess I’ll have to ask all my questions on Tuesday.
I was upset that I got there about 15 min. late. Even though I left about 1.5 hours before it started. Coming back took about 45 mins. One thing that I won’t miss about DC, when I leave, is the traffic. I’ll miss the cool book discussions though. Its cool being in a town where there’s always something going on. I don’t know where I’ll be going next, yet. I have an interview at a lab at Ohio State U. It is in Columbus where my older brother and his wife live. It’s hard to know if I’m interested in the position or not. The description given is pretty generic and not really helpful. The interview won’t be till the 6th or 7th of March. So it will be a little bit till in know more about that. If I don’t go there, I’ll likely go back to Pittsburgh. I’m still applying for the Peace Corp. either way. I got that application submitted just after Christmas. I have an interview on Tuesday. I’m interested but I’m not sure what they will send me to do. I guess I’ll have to ask all my questions on Tuesday.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
So Sad
Sorry guys. No funnies today.
I had heard about the bombing of the mosque, The Golden Dome, in Iraq on the radio. I didn’t really think much about it. Nothing new there, right. Just another bombing sounded like no big deal, we hear about them so much. When I got home today I was hunting through the paper for the comics. On the front page of the comics section (not really sure why this was in the style section) were before and after pictures of the mosque. If I can figure out how, I’ll attach some to this entry. It made me want to cry. Oddly enough I didn’t. Even though I’m rather girlish and cry at movies all the time. The complete destruction of this holy site is breath taking. I know that so much has been written about Iraq and everybody has an opinion on the whole thing. The opinion that we don’t hear enough is how truly sad the situation there is. These people are brothers; these guys share practically the same faith. Yet, this is how they treat each other. One can understand the bombing of the soldiers. Though it’s a poorly thought out view, they may see them as occupiers. But to bomb your own countrymen, because of their faith…? If they can’t be led out from their current line of thinking then there is little chance for any real change. I think that’s where all the planning has failed. The planners and leaders viewed these people as westerners with western values of “tolerance”. I use quotes there because we haven’t gotten it right yet, though we tend to do a little better. I can’t help but think about the middle ages: The wars between the Catholic and the Protestant church, the Spanish inquisition, the Crusades… It all sounds like they are still stuck back in the middle ages, that they haven’t come out of them yet. Then I think about Ireland and the racism that exists here and realize that we the West haven’t gotten it so right either. I don’t want to go on much more. I mostly just wanted to say how sad it makes me to see what’s going on.
I’ll have to keep praying. I didn’t see much hope when Ariel Sharon was elected and he took the first real steps to change the status quo in decades. Some days it feels like praying is all I can do. Some days it feels like all that can be done is to pray.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Fact or Fiction?
I don’t know if you heard, but recently one of the authors that wrote a book that made it onto Oprah’s book club has been disgraced. One would imagine that being on Oprah’s book list would be enough but… The book was A Million Little Pieces. It was supposed to be a memoir about the author’s terrible life growing up. I don’t know who broke the news or how it got out but apparently it was pretty much all made up. He even went back on Oprah (apparently he was on the show as part of a book tour) and tried to defend himself. Oprah was acting all self-righteous and saying how hurt she felt, and really laying into him. (I should note that I don’t watch Oprah, they showed clips of the interview on The Daily Show. The most reliable news source I watch.) He was just saying that maybe not all of it was exactly right and that he may have changed parts of the story. I’m not sure what the big deal is. I mean if Dan Brown has taught us nothing else; he taught us that Americans have no ability to tell fact from fiction. I recently finished reading The Da Vinci Code. By recently I mean about 2 months ago. I read it at the urging of my friend Lori. She used the old “Pete, it wasn’t a very good book, you should read it” trick. So I read it and I’ve got to say that I understand why it was popular. It was short with short sections. It was not complicated. It was all about a conspiracy, even better it was about a religious conspiracy. Not that good over all though. I can’t believe that it’s been on the New York Times bestseller list for like 148 weeks. Definitely won’t ever be used to torture high school English students. I should write a book. I can write at least as well as Dan. I even have a plot in mind. I’m hesitant to say what it is. I mean, my blog is so widely read and I don’t want anybody to steal my idea.
I also recently finished End of Poverty by Jeffery Sachs. It was a very good book. Dr. Sachs talks about the possibility of ending the extreme Poverty that much of the developing world is stuck in. He has some great things to say. Though I did not agree with all of it. He says at one point that the Indian election of 2004 that resulted in Manmohan Singh becoming Prime Minister was largely the result of the population of India wanting economic change. On the list of reasons that people would give, that would be the last reason if it even made the list. The reason that Dr. Singh became Prime Minister is that Sonia Gandhi was the face for the Congress Party (in India they elect a party that forms a coalition government, the party picks a Prime Minister). Most voted for Sonia Gandhi because she is a Gandhi, even though she is Italian and married a Gandhi. That and the threat that if the BJP stayed in power, for like a 3rd or 4th term, they would be able to pass really strict laws about converting religions and laws about if you aren’t a Hindu then you aren’t Indian. That’s one of the rumors that was going around at the time. He also seemed somewhat naive about that prejudices of the US against Russia. He was surprised that the US government didn’t want to help Russia when the communists fell. People didn’t like Russians, just because they were Russian. I was also disappointed about one section where he says that someone he knows is having success using anti retroviral drug in the Caribbean to treat HIV/AIDS. One reason given for drug companies not just handing out the medicine like candy is that you have to take it on a specific schedule, which you can’t do without a clock. But that this guys has had success with treatment even in such a poor area. But there wasn’t any reference to a paper or even to the guy’s name. I was rather disappointed that I couldn’t find anything about it. For the most part I really enjoyed reading the book. It’s not any easy book to read. It’s not as simply written as Dan’s book. But it was an excellent book and I hope that important people that make foreign policies will read and listen to the book.
I also recently finished End of Poverty by Jeffery Sachs. It was a very good book. Dr. Sachs talks about the possibility of ending the extreme Poverty that much of the developing world is stuck in. He has some great things to say. Though I did not agree with all of it. He says at one point that the Indian election of 2004 that resulted in Manmohan Singh becoming Prime Minister was largely the result of the population of India wanting economic change. On the list of reasons that people would give, that would be the last reason if it even made the list. The reason that Dr. Singh became Prime Minister is that Sonia Gandhi was the face for the Congress Party (in India they elect a party that forms a coalition government, the party picks a Prime Minister). Most voted for Sonia Gandhi because she is a Gandhi, even though she is Italian and married a Gandhi. That and the threat that if the BJP stayed in power, for like a 3rd or 4th term, they would be able to pass really strict laws about converting religions and laws about if you aren’t a Hindu then you aren’t Indian. That’s one of the rumors that was going around at the time. He also seemed somewhat naive about that prejudices of the US against Russia. He was surprised that the US government didn’t want to help Russia when the communists fell. People didn’t like Russians, just because they were Russian. I was also disappointed about one section where he says that someone he knows is having success using anti retroviral drug in the Caribbean to treat HIV/AIDS. One reason given for drug companies not just handing out the medicine like candy is that you have to take it on a specific schedule, which you can’t do without a clock. But that this guys has had success with treatment even in such a poor area. But there wasn’t any reference to a paper or even to the guy’s name. I was rather disappointed that I couldn’t find anything about it. For the most part I really enjoyed reading the book. It’s not any easy book to read. It’s not as simply written as Dan’s book. But it was an excellent book and I hope that important people that make foreign policies will read and listen to the book.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
When You Should NOT Go Out to a Restaurant
I’ve been inspired by my friend Tiffany to do a public service announcement. She also works in a restaurant (in another state). She has, on a number of occasions, written on her blog about actions that are NOT acceptable behavior in a restaurant. So here’s one from me.
If you are not able to control your kids, do NOT take them to a restaurant. The restaurant is not a playground for your kids. The staff are not baby sitters for you kids. You should not let you kids run around the restaurant, up and down the stairs, too and from the bathroom. They should not be left to stand in the middle of the doorway to the kitchen so that everybody has to walk around them. If they cannot sit for 1 hour while you eat: 1 eat faster, 2. go to McDonalds, 3. don’t go out. I would rather not have your sad measly tip then wait on your unruly kids!
If you hate your kids or they are giving you a headache, you should NOT go out to a restaurant. I don’t want to have a headache from your kids either. I also don’t need your crappy, rude attitude that you bring along with your headache from your misbehaving kids.
I am your waiter. I am there to bring you stuff that you ask for. So when I come and ask if you are ready or if I can help you decide, you can answer: yes or no. However yelling NO!! is not an acceptable response.
If you are too stupid to read the whole flyer, and miss the writing 4 inches below the list of happy hour specials that says that you have to be at the bar for them. And then your waiter goes to the manager and convinces him to make and exception this once. Then you should say thank you, Pete for saving me $3. You should not get more upset when I explain to you that I saved you the measly $3, you should SHUT YOUR MOUTH.
Also I understand that some waiters/waitresses are rude. They give the good ones a bad name. But unless they laughed when they dropped your food on your lap, then keep your mouth shut when you leave and see their manager. You should definitely not complain to the manager when your waiter got you the $3 off your meal (even though you are too stupid to read the flyer and don’t really deserve it but he has been working all day and just wants you to shut up). And if you are too stupid to tell the difference between yourself and the waiter (meaning that you were rude the whole time and the waiter wasn’t ever rude) you should NOT tell the manager that the waiter was rude.
I hope that someone has found this educational. If I’ve helped even one waiter/waitress, then it was worth it.
This was somewhat cathartic. I’ll have to do more posts like this. Thanks for the inspiration Tiff.
If you are not able to control your kids, do NOT take them to a restaurant. The restaurant is not a playground for your kids. The staff are not baby sitters for you kids. You should not let you kids run around the restaurant, up and down the stairs, too and from the bathroom. They should not be left to stand in the middle of the doorway to the kitchen so that everybody has to walk around them. If they cannot sit for 1 hour while you eat: 1 eat faster, 2. go to McDonalds, 3. don’t go out. I would rather not have your sad measly tip then wait on your unruly kids!
If you hate your kids or they are giving you a headache, you should NOT go out to a restaurant. I don’t want to have a headache from your kids either. I also don’t need your crappy, rude attitude that you bring along with your headache from your misbehaving kids.
I am your waiter. I am there to bring you stuff that you ask for. So when I come and ask if you are ready or if I can help you decide, you can answer: yes or no. However yelling NO!! is not an acceptable response.
If you are too stupid to read the whole flyer, and miss the writing 4 inches below the list of happy hour specials that says that you have to be at the bar for them. And then your waiter goes to the manager and convinces him to make and exception this once. Then you should say thank you, Pete for saving me $3. You should not get more upset when I explain to you that I saved you the measly $3, you should SHUT YOUR MOUTH.
Also I understand that some waiters/waitresses are rude. They give the good ones a bad name. But unless they laughed when they dropped your food on your lap, then keep your mouth shut when you leave and see their manager. You should definitely not complain to the manager when your waiter got you the $3 off your meal (even though you are too stupid to read the flyer and don’t really deserve it but he has been working all day and just wants you to shut up). And if you are too stupid to tell the difference between yourself and the waiter (meaning that you were rude the whole time and the waiter wasn’t ever rude) you should NOT tell the manager that the waiter was rude.
I hope that someone has found this educational. If I’ve helped even one waiter/waitress, then it was worth it.
This was somewhat cathartic. I’ll have to do more posts like this. Thanks for the inspiration Tiff.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Happy HolidayS
That’s right. Happy Holidays. I had 2 great holidays this holiday season. I hope that you all did too. I say that because there has been a controversy this year about a “War on Christmas”. I think that the media has too much time on their hands. I’m pretty sure they should all have to wait tables full time as well as be a “journalist”. Then maybe they would stay with real news. Apparently President Bush’s card said Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. (This is news?!?) And he was getting all this static about it. First of all I’m sure that he never even saw the card until it was on the news and even then I’m sure he didn’t really care about it enough to look at it. Even if he did see it I guess they were all forgetting that it’s a “Holiday Season” with Christmas, and New Years. I would mention the others as well but it was only the “Christians” that seemed to be making a stink. I’m surprised they didn’t raise the question of bad intelligence from the card people calling it Christmas-gate.
Anyway, as I was saying, I had a good time this year. I drove up to Pittsburgh from DC to see my parents and my little brother and sister-in-law. I drove up after getting out of work early. It took less than 5 hours. It was clear driving all the way up. I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I hadn’t gotten into the Christmas spirit yet. I had been in a pretty bad mood, because I had been working 2 waiter jobs. I started at a Japanese restaurant. Other than yelling WASABI! a lot it pretty much sucked. I didn’t like the managers at all. So I quit 2 days before I left for Pittsburgh. My older brother wasn’t going to be around and I didn’t think I would get to see any friends so I just thought I would be sitting around my parent’s house for 4 days. Little did I realize that that was exactly what I needed. I arrived just before my parents got home from the Christmas Eve Service. I wished I could have made it for that but we got to sit and talk for a little that night. Christmas day was nice. The Service at church was nice and I got to see some people and catch up a little with them. Some of the people that I had hoped to see weren’t there. My aunt and 2 cousins came over for dinner at lunchtime. One of them brought his girlfriend. She pretty much sat there and didn’t say anything except when directly asked a question. Then they left in the middle of the afternoon and my little brother and his wife J-Lo came over and we opened gifts. It was a good evening. Then for the next few days I just hung out and drank lots of tea and hot chocolate and really enjoyed having a few days off from work. Then back in DC for New Years. We had a party at my house. I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I don’t mind parties so much; it’s having them at my house that I don’t like. You can’t really show up late and you can’t leave early. Though it is easy to hide upstairs in your bedroom when you get over stimulated. But it was fun. We played Texas Hold ‘Em, some spades, and Fussball plus there was good food. Also people didn’t stay till 4 am like I thought they would. Most left by 100 or so. I was able to go to bed at like 130 and wasn’t kept up by the few people that were still there. I would have stayed up longer but I had to be at work at 10 am. I ended up with a huge headache too. I only had 2 glasses of champagne. It went away after 4 Advil. I also met someone at the party. Didn’t kiss her at midnight but nobody did that. What a lame party, no booze and no kissing. Anyway, I’ll be looking for her at church. She was white, though, from Arkansas. But she was cute with short blonde hair. Not rich but she had a good job. So, not an Indian princess but I still liked her. Anyway, I hope that you all had a good Holiday Season too; no matter where you were for Christmas or how far ahead of me you got to the New Year.
Anyway, as I was saying, I had a good time this year. I drove up to Pittsburgh from DC to see my parents and my little brother and sister-in-law. I drove up after getting out of work early. It took less than 5 hours. It was clear driving all the way up. I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I hadn’t gotten into the Christmas spirit yet. I had been in a pretty bad mood, because I had been working 2 waiter jobs. I started at a Japanese restaurant. Other than yelling WASABI! a lot it pretty much sucked. I didn’t like the managers at all. So I quit 2 days before I left for Pittsburgh. My older brother wasn’t going to be around and I didn’t think I would get to see any friends so I just thought I would be sitting around my parent’s house for 4 days. Little did I realize that that was exactly what I needed. I arrived just before my parents got home from the Christmas Eve Service. I wished I could have made it for that but we got to sit and talk for a little that night. Christmas day was nice. The Service at church was nice and I got to see some people and catch up a little with them. Some of the people that I had hoped to see weren’t there. My aunt and 2 cousins came over for dinner at lunchtime. One of them brought his girlfriend. She pretty much sat there and didn’t say anything except when directly asked a question. Then they left in the middle of the afternoon and my little brother and his wife J-Lo came over and we opened gifts. It was a good evening. Then for the next few days I just hung out and drank lots of tea and hot chocolate and really enjoyed having a few days off from work. Then back in DC for New Years. We had a party at my house. I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I don’t mind parties so much; it’s having them at my house that I don’t like. You can’t really show up late and you can’t leave early. Though it is easy to hide upstairs in your bedroom when you get over stimulated. But it was fun. We played Texas Hold ‘Em, some spades, and Fussball plus there was good food. Also people didn’t stay till 4 am like I thought they would. Most left by 100 or so. I was able to go to bed at like 130 and wasn’t kept up by the few people that were still there. I would have stayed up longer but I had to be at work at 10 am. I ended up with a huge headache too. I only had 2 glasses of champagne. It went away after 4 Advil. I also met someone at the party. Didn’t kiss her at midnight but nobody did that. What a lame party, no booze and no kissing. Anyway, I’ll be looking for her at church. She was white, though, from Arkansas. But she was cute with short blonde hair. Not rich but she had a good job. So, not an Indian princess but I still liked her. Anyway, I hope that you all had a good Holiday Season too; no matter where you were for Christmas or how far ahead of me you got to the New Year.
Monday, December 26, 2005
Hawaii Part II
It’s been well over a month now and I think that it’s high time that I finish writing about Hawaii. Though in my last posting about my trip I may have made it sound like a disaster it was far from it. I had a great time. It was fun to see Heather and her brother Cam again. I always look forward to spending time with Lori. Any I had fun getting to know some of the friends and family of Heather and Alexis. Though there was rain nearly everyday it mostly didn’t interfere with our plans. When we needed it, the sun was out. The weather was really nice for the ceremony. Even if the pastor that did the ceremony wasn’t. Apparently she was pretty rude to Alexis, one of the brides, when Heather was late. She said that she had another ceremony that she had to get to. So we added her to the list of reasons not to use Turtle Bay Resorts ever again. Especially since they were a large part of the reason that Heather was late, as they had only scheduled one appointment for hair and nails and only had one person working in the salon. But both Heather and Alexis were to be all fixed up there. Then they couldn’t do room service either. I didn’t really get that story but basically they wanted to way over charge for food they couldn’t get there in less than 3 hours. I never actually heard what the girls did after that. Did they just not eat? Did they go hungry till the reception? I hope not. The reception was nice: the food was great, the weather was nice, but the bar tender wasn’t so great. He wasn’t very good at mixing drinks. But we all had a good time dancing and eating. I think that every Katherine, the vegan that made life hard for the food planners, was satisfied with the food.
The highlight of the trip for me was Saturday, after all the wedding stuff was done. Lori had a friend from high school that worked at a sea life park on the island. She is one of the dolphin trainers there. So we went and saw her shows and saw the park. She introduced us to one of the penguins and let us play with it some. Then later we got to meet one of the dolphins. We tried to get him to do some tricks but pretty much he only did it for Kelly, the trainer. She did get him out of the water for pictures with all of us. Cam really enjoyed the fish tank where you can hold a sea cucumber. He had some bad experiences with petting zoos but I think we got him over that experience. We also got to see the first know instance of a Wolphihn, half whale/half dolphin. It was an accident as they had put the female whales with the male dolphins for a night thinking there wouldn’t be any problems. Well, I guess the starts were rather romantic that night. The first question I asked and nearly every one I’ve told had asked is… is it sterile? Nope. It has had calves with a dolphin (I think). So they are ¾ dolphin and ¼ whale. They were hard to see, as they didn’t really come up out of the water for us. But we saw them swimming around. The park was small but fun. There were sea turtles and sea lions and a large tank with fish and manta rays and sharks. There’s also a dolphin adventure where you can swim with the dolphins. We didn’t do that though. I’d like to do that some time but we weren’t prepared to do it that day. That night I bought nearly all my souvenirs. Including a Hawaiian shirt for myself. I haven’t worn it yet though. It’s been a little cold for that. Then we went to a Thai restaurant with Kelly. The drive back home was a bit rough as we had trouble getting out of the city. (We did every time we were down there. Another reason to stay on the South Shore, not at Turtle Bay.) We were going to meet somebody that wanted Lori to take something back to his family in India. We were a little later than we though we would be but we got there. It was a good day. Then of course we had to pack since Lori was leaving the next morning and we had to be out by I think 11. So it was a late night of packing.
I really had a great time and if Heather does read my blog, I want to thank her again for planning things for us. We all loved our time there. I defiantly want to go back when we can see more of the other islands and get more time on the beach. Hawaii is still at the top of my list for Honeymoon destinations.
The highlight of the trip for me was Saturday, after all the wedding stuff was done. Lori had a friend from high school that worked at a sea life park on the island. She is one of the dolphin trainers there. So we went and saw her shows and saw the park. She introduced us to one of the penguins and let us play with it some. Then later we got to meet one of the dolphins. We tried to get him to do some tricks but pretty much he only did it for Kelly, the trainer. She did get him out of the water for pictures with all of us. Cam really enjoyed the fish tank where you can hold a sea cucumber. He had some bad experiences with petting zoos but I think we got him over that experience. We also got to see the first know instance of a Wolphihn, half whale/half dolphin. It was an accident as they had put the female whales with the male dolphins for a night thinking there wouldn’t be any problems. Well, I guess the starts were rather romantic that night. The first question I asked and nearly every one I’ve told had asked is… is it sterile? Nope. It has had calves with a dolphin (I think). So they are ¾ dolphin and ¼ whale. They were hard to see, as they didn’t really come up out of the water for us. But we saw them swimming around. The park was small but fun. There were sea turtles and sea lions and a large tank with fish and manta rays and sharks. There’s also a dolphin adventure where you can swim with the dolphins. We didn’t do that though. I’d like to do that some time but we weren’t prepared to do it that day. That night I bought nearly all my souvenirs. Including a Hawaiian shirt for myself. I haven’t worn it yet though. It’s been a little cold for that. Then we went to a Thai restaurant with Kelly. The drive back home was a bit rough as we had trouble getting out of the city. (We did every time we were down there. Another reason to stay on the South Shore, not at Turtle Bay.) We were going to meet somebody that wanted Lori to take something back to his family in India. We were a little later than we though we would be but we got there. It was a good day. Then of course we had to pack since Lori was leaving the next morning and we had to be out by I think 11. So it was a late night of packing.
I really had a great time and if Heather does read my blog, I want to thank her again for planning things for us. We all loved our time there. I defiantly want to go back when we can see more of the other islands and get more time on the beach. Hawaii is still at the top of my list for Honeymoon destinations.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Apologies
I think I should take a minute to apologize. I didn’t realize that certain people are reading my blog. Not that they shouldn’t be. I should just be a little more careful I guess. You shouldn’t take anything that I say here too seriously. I forgot that I was writing this to keep Lori updated and that she linked my blog from hers. I wonder who else is reading my blog. Frisbee Amy, are you reading this? If you are, I miss you. Too bad I wasn’t able to play Frisbee this fall. You should call me so we can go out sometime. Amy from the Fish Market? You should call me; now that we don’t work together anymore I really want to know if that was going to be a date. Adel, I like ice cream; you can give me more any time you want. Any random customer that I’ve had that’s pissed me off, you can suck it!
Anyway, thanks for saying that my writing’s improved. That was nice of you.
Anyway, thanks for saying that my writing’s improved. That was nice of you.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Anybody Want to Ghostwrite My Blog?
I have plenty more to talk about from Hawaii but I want to take a break from that for just a sec to talk about something else. So when I was in Hawaii Lori told me that her mom didn’t think that I wrote my prayer letters for my time in India. She remembers my writing as being haphazard, poorly organized. She thought that my letters from India were well written. At first I just shrugged it off but now that I think about it, that’s a great idea. I should have had a ghostwriter for my prayer letters. What a great idea. Dave, you should totally look into that for when you go back to India. I wonder what else I could have ghostwritten. I should get a ghostwriter for my blog. Or I should have had a ghostwriter for my journal in India. That would have been especially nice sine I didn’t keep a journal. Anyway, just for the record, I write and edit this blog myself. Though it’s probably way more stream of consciousness than my letters. Good thing your mom doesn’t read this, Lori. She would probably feel all disillusioned.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Hawaii, Part 1
Last week I was in Hawaii. I was without an internet connection for nearly all of my time there so I wasn’t able to blog. Sorry, especially to Dave. So here are some thoughts about my vacation in “paradise”.
The worst part of a vacation is definitely the flight back. It was worse than arriving and having to drive around the island for 4 hours to find a place to stay. I guess when I told everybody that I was coming on Monday they thought I meant Tuesday. It was also worse then driving all over the island trying to find a place to surf. The waves were too big on the north shore so nobody would rent us a board. Tthen lessons at the one place that would didn’t start till 100. We finally rented a board on the west shore. By then we could only spend about 40 mins in the water. Not worth the 3 hours of driving around the island looking for the right spot. I never did get to stand on the board. I never figured out how to catch the right part of the wave. Every time I started to stand up the wave would leave me behind. Cam got up to a crouching position on the board pretty easily. Way to go Cam! I must admit that Cam and Chad were good companions for the journey though. We had a few laughs. Especially at the Ford 500 that was driving really slowly as we were rushing to get back to get ready for the wedding. You could tell that the three of us got ready for the wedding really quickly. Our pants were all really wrinkled. We were so sure that we would have plenty of time to get out and back that we didn’t worry about it. I took the fastest shower ever when we finally got back. Even faster than my freezing cold showers in India. Then Cam and I rushed down to meet everybody at the resort. (We left Chad to get ready at somebody else’s condo where there was more room.) Then, of course, we waited another 30 mins at the resort for Heather to get ready. That’s all right. Better we wait for her than her waiting for us. Cam was best man, so we didn’t want to be the ones holding things up. But we got there ok.
The flight back was such a pain. I really hate all the “security”. What a pain. Plus I’m not in the best mood anyway because I have to leave to return to my sad life. Then my suitcase was over weight and I had to pay extra to get it home. I almost lost it with the airline woman. I should have started yelling. Maybe I could have gotten out of paying extra. The guy next to me on the plane was nice. He let me borrow an extra set of headphones that he had for the movie. It was Willy Wonka so it wasn’t really that great a favor. But it was a nice gesture.
All in all it was a good vacation. I’ll work on posting some pictures this week. I’ll also tell about the ceremony and some of the fun times.
The worst part of a vacation is definitely the flight back. It was worse than arriving and having to drive around the island for 4 hours to find a place to stay. I guess when I told everybody that I was coming on Monday they thought I meant Tuesday. It was also worse then driving all over the island trying to find a place to surf. The waves were too big on the north shore so nobody would rent us a board. Tthen lessons at the one place that would didn’t start till 100. We finally rented a board on the west shore. By then we could only spend about 40 mins in the water. Not worth the 3 hours of driving around the island looking for the right spot. I never did get to stand on the board. I never figured out how to catch the right part of the wave. Every time I started to stand up the wave would leave me behind. Cam got up to a crouching position on the board pretty easily. Way to go Cam! I must admit that Cam and Chad were good companions for the journey though. We had a few laughs. Especially at the Ford 500 that was driving really slowly as we were rushing to get back to get ready for the wedding. You could tell that the three of us got ready for the wedding really quickly. Our pants were all really wrinkled. We were so sure that we would have plenty of time to get out and back that we didn’t worry about it. I took the fastest shower ever when we finally got back. Even faster than my freezing cold showers in India. Then Cam and I rushed down to meet everybody at the resort. (We left Chad to get ready at somebody else’s condo where there was more room.) Then, of course, we waited another 30 mins at the resort for Heather to get ready. That’s all right. Better we wait for her than her waiting for us. Cam was best man, so we didn’t want to be the ones holding things up. But we got there ok.
The flight back was such a pain. I really hate all the “security”. What a pain. Plus I’m not in the best mood anyway because I have to leave to return to my sad life. Then my suitcase was over weight and I had to pay extra to get it home. I almost lost it with the airline woman. I should have started yelling. Maybe I could have gotten out of paying extra. The guy next to me on the plane was nice. He let me borrow an extra set of headphones that he had for the movie. It was Willy Wonka so it wasn’t really that great a favor. But it was a nice gesture.
All in all it was a good vacation. I’ll work on posting some pictures this week. I’ll also tell about the ceremony and some of the fun times.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Are We 5?!?
So I had a tough start to my Sunday night shift. First off, I don’t think that I’ll be picking up too many more Sunday nights. Not unless someone really needs me to for a good reason. The money isn’t good enough, especially when I should be at church or something. So anyway it started with 2 women and a 10 year old kid. They didn’t like the music and it was too loud and the table was too close to the speaker. Then they all needed their own bowl of crackers for their soup. They couldn’t share. Then the one lady’s soup wasn’t full enough. It was as full as every other bowl of soup we serve. I went back and filled the bowl to the brim. I reconsidered realizing that I didn’t want to bother my manager with her yelling. So I dumped some out and brought her the bowl back. Seriously though, can’t share crackers? Go back to kindergarten! At least they left after soup. No tip but I’ll survive on not having the normal 10% that the cheap people of DC leave. I did get free mint chocolate chip ice cream from Adel in the ice cream shop. I know you don’t read this, Adel, but you rock the house.
So I still don’t know if it was supposed to be a date. Even with all the advice I got. Mostly because she never called. So we didn’t go out. I asked her about it last night. She told me that her roommate’s girl friend broke up with him. So he didn’t want to go out. Seems to me like most people would use that as a reason to go drinking but whatever. I think that she was about to ask me to do something this week but then she got interrupted. She had the chance too again later but never went back to it. I was kind of looking forward to seeing what the deal was. That and the debate to decide if it was a date. Maybe there’s still a chance.
So I still don’t know if it was supposed to be a date. Even with all the advice I got. Mostly because she never called. So we didn’t go out. I asked her about it last night. She told me that her roommate’s girl friend broke up with him. So he didn’t want to go out. Seems to me like most people would use that as a reason to go drinking but whatever. I think that she was about to ask me to do something this week but then she got interrupted. She had the chance too again later but never went back to it. I was kind of looking forward to seeing what the deal was. That and the debate to decide if it was a date. Maybe there’s still a chance.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Fishy Dreams and Dates
I’m spending too much time at the restaurant. I know that because I had a dream about it the other night. I was at the restaurant, kind of. It was supposed to be the restaurant but there were bookshelves all over like at the library. And the tables were library tables. I had no idea which tables were mine, something that happens frequently. I did know which section was David’s, another server from the restaurant. I didn’t know where he was and his customers were getting all upset but I just kept saying I don’t know where he is and I can’t help them. I also was having trouble finding the kitchen. I didn’t know where it was. So I couldn’t get anybody silverware and if I don’t have silverware then I can’t go to the tables. So I was running around looking for the kitchen and David. The whole time Valentina, another server, from Bulgaria, keeps calling, “Petco!” That’s what she and the other Bulgarian call me. I don’t know why. They called me Petel for a while, saying that it was “Peter” in Bulgarian. But I don’t know what Petco is. Anyway I did eventually find the kitchen, though I couldn’t get in because the incline up to the kitchen was too steep and my shoes were too slippery. That’s so weird. I never even had a dream about Organic.
So I’m pretty sure I was asked on a date yesterday. I’m not really sure. I was running it by my advisor on the phone this morning but we got cut off. Anyway one of the waitresses at work told me that her roommates’ birthday is this week. She asked me if I want to go get drinks with them this week. I don’t know who else would be there. I didn’t really ask follow up questions. I just said yeah, I’d go. It was starting to get a little busy and I was taken by surprise by it. And it was just before she left for the night. It could be a date. She’s supposed to call tomorrow I guess. Anyway, we’ll see what happens.
So I’m pretty sure I was asked on a date yesterday. I’m not really sure. I was running it by my advisor on the phone this morning but we got cut off. Anyway one of the waitresses at work told me that her roommates’ birthday is this week. She asked me if I want to go get drinks with them this week. I don’t know who else would be there. I didn’t really ask follow up questions. I just said yeah, I’d go. It was starting to get a little busy and I was taken by surprise by it. And it was just before she left for the night. It could be a date. She’s supposed to call tomorrow I guess. Anyway, we’ll see what happens.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
The Rosa Parks of Bus Riders
Yesterday was a sad day. Rosa Parks dies. Rosa Parks is an icon from the 50’s Civil Rights movement for African Americans. Back then everything was segregated. The phrase “separate but equal” was used a lot. (How stupid a phrase is that? I thought a lot about that in India, when the women had to always be separate in church. Dave and I liked to sit on the wrong side.) When riding the bus, blacks had to pay the driver then get off the bus and get on using the back door. They were allowed to sit as long as there were no white people waiting for a seat or any white people in the row. One evening after work she was sitting on the bus with 4 other black people in her row. When a white person got on the bus they were told to move, by the bus driver. The others did but she refused to. She was arrested and that led to a large number of lawsuits against the municipalities against the bus segregation laws, bus boycotts, and large rallies. She was fined but the laws were eventually overturned. They tell us that she was an old woman that was especially tired. In actuality she was 40 and she wasn’t any more tired than usual after a day of work. She was an activist that had finally had enough. She knew that something had to be done. Not lighting the bus on fire, not getting people to turn the bus over on its side. She stood up to the bus driver and the law. I think it’s funny that the story I learned in elementary school was wrong. I wonder what else I learned in elementary school is wrong. Thinking back to the teachers I had, I bet there’s lots of things. I had some pretty bad teachers in elementary and jr. high school. I bet that’s the reason that I got fired from Georgetown and now have to wait tables at the Fish Market. They were probably all sick of hearing all the stupid things that I learned in elementary school that were wrong. I could have been someone big and important if I hadn’t thought all my life that Rosa Parks was old!!
Anyway… Rosa Parks has become the poster girl for being the first, even though Alabama wasn’t the first to have the bus segregation laws challenged. She rocked the boat and played a huge roll in breaking that and other injustices. She should be the poster girl for fighting the system.
Good-bye Rosa. I hope that your actions won’t ever be forgotten. I hope that we truly did learn a lesson about equality and the stupidity of racism.
Anyway… Rosa Parks has become the poster girl for being the first, even though Alabama wasn’t the first to have the bus segregation laws challenged. She rocked the boat and played a huge roll in breaking that and other injustices. She should be the poster girl for fighting the system.
Good-bye Rosa. I hope that your actions won’t ever be forgotten. I hope that we truly did learn a lesson about equality and the stupidity of racism.
Monday, October 17, 2005
MMM, Floor Pie...
My friend Pam sent this. I picked Ice Cream and Chocolate Cake/Chocolate Icing. They are partly right for me. How about you guys?
Pick your dessert, then look to see what psychiatriststhink about you! If all of the desserts listed below were sitting in front of you,which would you choose?
(Sorry, you can only pick one!)
1) Angel Food
2) Brownies
3) Lemon Meringue
4) Vanilla Cake/Chocolate Icing
5) Strawberry Short Cake
6) Chocolate Cake/Chocolate Icing
7) Ice Cream
8) Carrot Cake
Now that you've made your choice, ! this is what research saysabout you!
Angel food - Sweet, loving, cuddly. You love all warm and fuzzy items. Alittle nutty at times. Sometimes you need an ice cream cone at the endof the day. Others perceive you as being childlike and immature at times.
Brownies - You are adventurous, love new ideas, are a champion ofunderdogs and a slayer of dragons. When tempers flare up, you whip outyour saber.You are always the oddball with a unique sense of humor and direction.You tend to be very loyal.
Lemon Meringue - Smooth, sexy, & articulate with your hands, you are anexcellent after-dinner speaker and a good teacher. But don't try to walkand chew gum at the same time. A bit of a diva at times, but you havemany friends.
Vanilla Cake/Chocolate Icing - Fun-loving, sassy, humorous. Not verygrounded in life; very indecisive and lack motivation. Everyone enjoysbeing around you, but you are a practical joker. Others should becautious in making you mad. However, you are a friend for life.
Strawberry Short Cake - Romantic, warm, loving. You care about otherpeople and can be counted on in a pinch. Yo! u tend to melt. You can beoverly emotional at times.
Chocolate Cake/Chocolate Icing- You love to give as well as receive.Very creative, adventurous, ambitious, and passionate. You have a coldExterior but are warm on the inside. Not afraid to take chances. Willnot settle for anything average in life. Love to laugh.
Ice Cream - You like sports, whether it be baseball, football,basketball, or soccer. If you could, you would like to participate, butyou enjoy watching sports. You don't like to give up the remote control.You tend to be self-centered and high maintenance.
Carrot Cake - You! are a very fun loving person, who likes to laugh. Youare fun to be with. People like to hang out with you. You are a verywarm hearted person and a little quirky at times. You have many loyalfriends.
Pick your dessert, then look to see what psychiatriststhink about you! If all of the desserts listed below were sitting in front of you,which would you choose?
(Sorry, you can only pick one!)
1) Angel Food
2) Brownies
3) Lemon Meringue
4) Vanilla Cake/Chocolate Icing
5) Strawberry Short Cake
6) Chocolate Cake/Chocolate Icing
7) Ice Cream
8) Carrot Cake
Now that you've made your choice, ! this is what research saysabout you!
Angel food - Sweet, loving, cuddly. You love all warm and fuzzy items. Alittle nutty at times. Sometimes you need an ice cream cone at the endof the day. Others perceive you as being childlike and immature at times.
Brownies - You are adventurous, love new ideas, are a champion ofunderdogs and a slayer of dragons. When tempers flare up, you whip outyour saber.You are always the oddball with a unique sense of humor and direction.You tend to be very loyal.
Lemon Meringue - Smooth, sexy, & articulate with your hands, you are anexcellent after-dinner speaker and a good teacher. But don't try to walkand chew gum at the same time. A bit of a diva at times, but you havemany friends.
Vanilla Cake/Chocolate Icing - Fun-loving, sassy, humorous. Not verygrounded in life; very indecisive and lack motivation. Everyone enjoysbeing around you, but you are a practical joker. Others should becautious in making you mad. However, you are a friend for life.
Strawberry Short Cake - Romantic, warm, loving. You care about otherpeople and can be counted on in a pinch. Yo! u tend to melt. You can beoverly emotional at times.
Chocolate Cake/Chocolate Icing- You love to give as well as receive.Very creative, adventurous, ambitious, and passionate. You have a coldExterior but are warm on the inside. Not afraid to take chances. Willnot settle for anything average in life. Love to laugh.
Ice Cream - You like sports, whether it be baseball, football,basketball, or soccer. If you could, you would like to participate, butyou enjoy watching sports. You don't like to give up the remote control.You tend to be self-centered and high maintenance.
Carrot Cake - You! are a very fun loving person, who likes to laugh. Youare fun to be with. People like to hang out with you. You are a verywarm hearted person and a little quirky at times. You have many loyalfriends.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Still Wanting, Never Having
It’s always funny when you bait someone and they only seem to latch onto something else. Like they missed it.
Anyway... I was asked to clarify the story I posted about Lori’s keys. It was when we were in the evil Starbucks. I wanted Panera for the free broad band but Lori wouldn’t have it. When we went in the evil house of coffee the T-Mobile hotspot sign tricked me into thinking that I would be able to spend my time typing e-mails rather than read the collection of smut books. I took Lori’s keys and went to the car to get my laptop and returned to the store. Lori’s friends came and left and I think Lori wanted to get something from the car. She asked me for the keys. I checked my pocket and they weren’t there. I said I didn’t have them I must have given them back. She insisted that she didn’t have them. If I didn’t have them and Lori didn’t have them and they weren’t on the table the obvious solution is that they were in the trunk. Well Jeff and I briefly entertained the possibility of breaking into her car but that wasn’t going anywhere. So AAA was called to get them to open the car. I was sure that I wouldn’t have locked them in the car but what else could have happened to them. What if one of her friends had taken them? So they were called and I had my vindication. I’m still not sure why she didn’t get suspicious about the keys that didn’t work in her car but whatever. Nobody believed that I hadn’t left her keys in the trunk. Lori didn’t even believe me that I didn’t have the keys. I can think of funnier things to do to someone than tell her that her keys are in the trunk when they aren’t. So we waited for her friend to come back. Well, some of us waited. Some people couldn’t wait and ran right for Buffalo Wild Wings.
Anyway... I was asked to clarify the story I posted about Lori’s keys. It was when we were in the evil Starbucks. I wanted Panera for the free broad band but Lori wouldn’t have it. When we went in the evil house of coffee the T-Mobile hotspot sign tricked me into thinking that I would be able to spend my time typing e-mails rather than read the collection of smut books. I took Lori’s keys and went to the car to get my laptop and returned to the store. Lori’s friends came and left and I think Lori wanted to get something from the car. She asked me for the keys. I checked my pocket and they weren’t there. I said I didn’t have them I must have given them back. She insisted that she didn’t have them. If I didn’t have them and Lori didn’t have them and they weren’t on the table the obvious solution is that they were in the trunk. Well Jeff and I briefly entertained the possibility of breaking into her car but that wasn’t going anywhere. So AAA was called to get them to open the car. I was sure that I wouldn’t have locked them in the car but what else could have happened to them. What if one of her friends had taken them? So they were called and I had my vindication. I’m still not sure why she didn’t get suspicious about the keys that didn’t work in her car but whatever. Nobody believed that I hadn’t left her keys in the trunk. Lori didn’t even believe me that I didn’t have the keys. I can think of funnier things to do to someone than tell her that her keys are in the trunk when they aren’t. So we waited for her friend to come back. Well, some of us waited. Some people couldn’t wait and ran right for Buffalo Wild Wings.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
You Always Want What You Can’t Have
Well, I’m in Rochester; visiting with Lori. Well, not right now. Right now I’m at Panera Bread while she’s off at her breakfast date. It’s a pretty long “breakfast” date, she left the house at about 940 and she isn’t supposed to get back till 1200. Plus it’s nearly 12 now and she hasn’t called me to see if I’m back so she can get it. I don’t know about that. Anyway, I’m at Panera because it’s about a million times better than Starbucks. For one thing the wireless Internet is free here. At Starbucks you have to pay for it. It said on the window at Starbucks that it’s a T-Mobile hotspot. Well, Catherine Zeta Jones is a T-Mobile hotspot but Starbucks was stone cold. I wasn’t going to pay. So I had to wait till this morning to get a connection. So finally I could do the last post and this one.
So for the last 2 days Lori and I have been going around seeing her friends in the area. It’s been good to see her; I miss her. She’s been having a hard time in India. She likes being in India but she doesn’t like the company that she works for. We’ve been talking a lot about that and other things. Will she keep with the company for the whole year? Will she stay in India? What if she moves back? Will she find an Indian guy to marry? You know, all the normal stuff. So we’ve been having a good time together.
This is also a week of meeting significant others. I met my friend Pam’s new boyfriend, Don and Mike’s new girlfriend, Kris. Kris was pretty cool. She fits in well with the group. She was able to handle Jeff and Chris well. When the picked on her like they do everyone she was able to give it right back. I think that she’s a good match for Mike. It’s hard to say about Don though. He seems really nice but I met him with Pam and Lori. We were talking (mostly laughing) so much that there wasn’t much room for him to talk. But he was participating a little. He seems like a keeper. I think I’ll get to see him tonight again. So there’ll be more time for judging then.
I’m showing my India Pictures tonight to Pam and Mike. I don’t know who else will be there. It will be emotional for me. Reliving it all and missing the people and friends. But I’m glad that I’ll finally get to show them.
Also, just for the record: I was vindicated and did not lock Lori’s keys in the trunk. Her friend took them off the table when she left.
So for the last 2 days Lori and I have been going around seeing her friends in the area. It’s been good to see her; I miss her. She’s been having a hard time in India. She likes being in India but she doesn’t like the company that she works for. We’ve been talking a lot about that and other things. Will she keep with the company for the whole year? Will she stay in India? What if she moves back? Will she find an Indian guy to marry? You know, all the normal stuff. So we’ve been having a good time together.
This is also a week of meeting significant others. I met my friend Pam’s new boyfriend, Don and Mike’s new girlfriend, Kris. Kris was pretty cool. She fits in well with the group. She was able to handle Jeff and Chris well. When the picked on her like they do everyone she was able to give it right back. I think that she’s a good match for Mike. It’s hard to say about Don though. He seems really nice but I met him with Pam and Lori. We were talking (mostly laughing) so much that there wasn’t much room for him to talk. But he was participating a little. He seems like a keeper. I think I’ll get to see him tonight again. So there’ll be more time for judging then.
I’m showing my India Pictures tonight to Pam and Mike. I don’t know who else will be there. It will be emotional for me. Reliving it all and missing the people and friends. But I’m glad that I’ll finally get to show them.
Also, just for the record: I was vindicated and did not lock Lori’s keys in the trunk. Her friend took them off the table when she left.
Where Did You Learn to Count
I wrote this on Monday but couldn't post it till today because of stupid Starbucks. I'll write about that in another post though:
I’m sitting in Dulles Airport. It’s 730 am and I already have stuff to say about my trip. Usually when I fly somewhere I get Gate Z50. The farthest gate possible. That’s fine, I’m used to it. It’s the story of my life. So when I checked in today I was shocked when I saw that I had gate A1! I’m smiling as I take the shuttle to concourse A. As I walk down the steps marked Gates A1-A8, I can’t help but smile about my short walk. I get down to concourse A and THE GATES ARE NUMBERED BACKWARDS!! It starts with gate A5. Freakn A! I still had to walk the farthest distance possible. That’s my life.
I’m heading to Rochester NY to see my friends from college. Well, actually I’m going to visit Lori. The one whom I started this blog for. I’ll also get to visit with some other college friends too. This will be a better trip than the one to Minnesota. If for no other reason, I brought something to eat on the plane. There are other reasons though. I’ll get to see Pam. The laughs never stop with Pam. When I’m with Pam I never have to say anything funny. I’m usually laughing too much to get anything out. Plus I’ll get to see Mike. Mike and I were roommates my senior year in college. Mike and I always have fun. I don’t think that I’ve seen them since Christmas. This will be good week that will end too soon. Well, I don’t know when I’ll get to post this. Stupid Dulles Airport is too cheap to have free wireless. Maybe I’ll be able to do it tonight at Pam’s.
I’m sitting in Dulles Airport. It’s 730 am and I already have stuff to say about my trip. Usually when I fly somewhere I get Gate Z50. The farthest gate possible. That’s fine, I’m used to it. It’s the story of my life. So when I checked in today I was shocked when I saw that I had gate A1! I’m smiling as I take the shuttle to concourse A. As I walk down the steps marked Gates A1-A8, I can’t help but smile about my short walk. I get down to concourse A and THE GATES ARE NUMBERED BACKWARDS!! It starts with gate A5. Freakn A! I still had to walk the farthest distance possible. That’s my life.
I’m heading to Rochester NY to see my friends from college. Well, actually I’m going to visit Lori. The one whom I started this blog for. I’ll also get to visit with some other college friends too. This will be a better trip than the one to Minnesota. If for no other reason, I brought something to eat on the plane. There are other reasons though. I’ll get to see Pam. The laughs never stop with Pam. When I’m with Pam I never have to say anything funny. I’m usually laughing too much to get anything out. Plus I’ll get to see Mike. Mike and I were roommates my senior year in college. Mike and I always have fun. I don’t think that I’ve seen them since Christmas. This will be good week that will end too soon. Well, I don’t know when I’ll get to post this. Stupid Dulles Airport is too cheap to have free wireless. Maybe I’ll be able to do it tonight at Pam’s.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Information that would have been useful YESTERDAY!!
I had a good time this weekend. I got in late on Friday and had dinner with my friend at Red Robin. It was good to catch up with him about life. Then we went home. It was my first time visiting them so I got the tour, which included a demonstration of his entertainment system. He has a very large TV (I don’t remember the measurements) with 6.1 Dolby surround sound. I also learned what that means. It was awesome. We watched a few movies over the weekend. It was awesome!
On Saturday we went running. Jeff has been running to try to be healthier. They usually run a 5K, about 3 miles, at about a 12 min. mile pace. I knew I could handle that. However, when we arrive the trainer says that she is going to run 5 miles and that anybody that wants can join her. Jeff decided that it would be good for him to do and I wasn’t going to just play on the jungle gym in the park. So I ran 5 miles with him. It took a little more than an hour. It was good but I was so tired the rest of the day. Plus my legs hurt pretty much until Wednesday morning. I was pretty close to falling asleep at the ceremony. My suggestion to all of you is not to run 5 miles cold just before a wedding. Just a thought that might help you someday.
I arrived at the wedding that afternoon a little late. I got there just in time to walk down the aisle to my seat just behind the bride. It was a nice service. The reception was okay. The only person that I knew was the bride. Nobody from college was there. I was a little surprised. Also a little disappointed that I didn’t get to use a good cover story. I’ll have to use the mortician idea next time. Instead I got to meet some of the groom’s friends from college, Northwestern. They seemed like a good group of people. They were the ones that decorated the car. They stuffed it with balloons, stuck cookies to the roof, and tied cans to the rear bumper. So I got along with them well. I did the dollar dance with the bride and left. I didn’t feel like doing much more than that.
The rest of the weekend went quickly. We watched some Sunday afternoon football. Then I flew home. The plane home was packed but I had my combos. No going hungry this time!
On Saturday we went running. Jeff has been running to try to be healthier. They usually run a 5K, about 3 miles, at about a 12 min. mile pace. I knew I could handle that. However, when we arrive the trainer says that she is going to run 5 miles and that anybody that wants can join her. Jeff decided that it would be good for him to do and I wasn’t going to just play on the jungle gym in the park. So I ran 5 miles with him. It took a little more than an hour. It was good but I was so tired the rest of the day. Plus my legs hurt pretty much until Wednesday morning. I was pretty close to falling asleep at the ceremony. My suggestion to all of you is not to run 5 miles cold just before a wedding. Just a thought that might help you someday.
I arrived at the wedding that afternoon a little late. I got there just in time to walk down the aisle to my seat just behind the bride. It was a nice service. The reception was okay. The only person that I knew was the bride. Nobody from college was there. I was a little surprised. Also a little disappointed that I didn’t get to use a good cover story. I’ll have to use the mortician idea next time. Instead I got to meet some of the groom’s friends from college, Northwestern. They seemed like a good group of people. They were the ones that decorated the car. They stuffed it with balloons, stuck cookies to the roof, and tied cans to the rear bumper. So I got along with them well. I did the dollar dance with the bride and left. I didn’t feel like doing much more than that.
The rest of the weekend went quickly. We watched some Sunday afternoon football. Then I flew home. The plane home was packed but I had my combos. No going hungry this time!
Monday, October 03, 2005
So Hungry
I wrote this on Friday but couldn't post till now:
I’m writing this on the plane flying to Minnesota. My friend Kelly from college is getting married. I’m a little bitter that they don’t serve snacks on Northwest anymore. Well you can buy a tiny bag of trail mix for a dollar. I wish I had known, I would have bought a large bag of something before getting on the plane. I’m hungry and that makes me bitter. I was waiting for dinner till I landed but now it’s getting hard to wait. On the way back I’m bringing a large bag of Combos.
As I said I’m on my way to an old friend’s wedding. I have mixed feelings about going. It would be easier if I was married (still accepting applications/suggestions) or if I had someone to come with me. At first I thought that I probably wouldn’t know anybody there. I’ve realized that I probably will. Tony and Heather will probably be there. It will be cool to see them again. Not really interested in talking to Jay and Melody again. Maybe they won’t be able to make it. I’m pretty indifferent about seeing Chris and Amy. I’m not sure if I’ll see anybody else that I know. I don’t know whom Kelly kept in touch with over the years. I guess I’ll see. I have to decide what to tell them all that I do. I could tell them all that I work for Georgetown still or I could tell them that I’m working at the new job that I expect to hear back from soon. I could make up a totally fake job. That could be fun. I could say something about I’m a trouble shooter for the CIA. Then say that I can’t say much about my job. Hard decision. Thinking about what I could use for stories makes me a little more excited to go. Though it doesn’t make me less bitter about no free plane snacks.
It should be a good weekend. I’ll be visiting some of my brother’s college friends. They were at our house for Sunday dinners a lot. So I know them well. I’ll have to ask if we’re going to have lasagna. Well I’ll write more about how things went and what my cover story was. No pictures of the wedding like James, though. I didn’t bring a camera.
I’m writing this on the plane flying to Minnesota. My friend Kelly from college is getting married. I’m a little bitter that they don’t serve snacks on Northwest anymore. Well you can buy a tiny bag of trail mix for a dollar. I wish I had known, I would have bought a large bag of something before getting on the plane. I’m hungry and that makes me bitter. I was waiting for dinner till I landed but now it’s getting hard to wait. On the way back I’m bringing a large bag of Combos.
As I said I’m on my way to an old friend’s wedding. I have mixed feelings about going. It would be easier if I was married (still accepting applications/suggestions) or if I had someone to come with me. At first I thought that I probably wouldn’t know anybody there. I’ve realized that I probably will. Tony and Heather will probably be there. It will be cool to see them again. Not really interested in talking to Jay and Melody again. Maybe they won’t be able to make it. I’m pretty indifferent about seeing Chris and Amy. I’m not sure if I’ll see anybody else that I know. I don’t know whom Kelly kept in touch with over the years. I guess I’ll see. I have to decide what to tell them all that I do. I could tell them all that I work for Georgetown still or I could tell them that I’m working at the new job that I expect to hear back from soon. I could make up a totally fake job. That could be fun. I could say something about I’m a trouble shooter for the CIA. Then say that I can’t say much about my job. Hard decision. Thinking about what I could use for stories makes me a little more excited to go. Though it doesn’t make me less bitter about no free plane snacks.
It should be a good weekend. I’ll be visiting some of my brother’s college friends. They were at our house for Sunday dinners a lot. So I know them well. I’ll have to ask if we’re going to have lasagna. Well I’ll write more about how things went and what my cover story was. No pictures of the wedding like James, though. I didn’t bring a camera.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
I’ll give you what you deserve…
So I’ve been waiting tables for nearly 2 months now. It gives me an interesting view into the heads of other people. A view I mostly could do without. There’s a PhD. thesis for some psychology major in the restaurant business. For one thing I’ve found that though most people say they give at least 15%. It’s much more common to get closer to 10% than 15%. And in case you were wondering the verbal tip (you did a great job, we enjoyed everything so much) doesn’t help to pay off the school loans. So say it with a real tip. This even happens to the cute waitresses and the experienced waiters we have. So it’s not just that I suck as a waiter.
It’s funny what makes people angry. I had a table flip out on Sunday because I thought that I could have scallops put on a dish to replace something and I was wrong. So when the manager (Chris, the cool manager) said, “it can be done but it will cost extra” they started to yell and say that since I said it could be done then we have to do it and can’t charge them for it. My manager realized quickly that they weren’t going to calm down so he got the head manager. Chris wanted to make them pay the bill anyway but the head manager just let them leave. Now I realize that I had made a mistake but it’s not like I dumped a bowl of soup on them. Even worse is that table threw me off for the rest of the night. I couldn’t get my rhythm back and I just ran from table to table. I did all right but all night I felt like I was doing it all wrong and that I was going to get lousy tips the rest of the night.
Another one is that people don’t like to have to pay for anything. I had a woman order a Bloody Mary the other day. She said she really had a craving for one. She drank a few sips of it and pushed it to the side and asked for an Iced Tea or something. So I asked her if it wasn’t any good or what. She said it was fine but she just didn’t really want it. So when I brought the bill and the Bloody Mary was on there she complained. Saying that she didn’t think she deserved to pay for it since she didn’t really drink it. But it wasn’t made improperly, it didn’t taste bad, she just decided after she had it that she didn’t want it. So the restaurant deserves to pay for it because you ordered it and decided not to drink it? Should I take a dollar off your meal because you didn’t feel like eating the fries that you ordered with your meal? Didn’t finish your salad? Let me take off 50 cents for that. The manager (Chris) just deleted it off her bill. Not worth fighting I guess. It’s funny what people think they deserve.
I’m not bitter enough about it to serve sneezers yet. Not that I would or have seen it happen yet. But I’m seeing how servers could get that frustrated with people. I wonder what customers would say if I just told them that I deserved a way to release the frustration of having to deal with them.
It’s funny what makes people angry. I had a table flip out on Sunday because I thought that I could have scallops put on a dish to replace something and I was wrong. So when the manager (Chris, the cool manager) said, “it can be done but it will cost extra” they started to yell and say that since I said it could be done then we have to do it and can’t charge them for it. My manager realized quickly that they weren’t going to calm down so he got the head manager. Chris wanted to make them pay the bill anyway but the head manager just let them leave. Now I realize that I had made a mistake but it’s not like I dumped a bowl of soup on them. Even worse is that table threw me off for the rest of the night. I couldn’t get my rhythm back and I just ran from table to table. I did all right but all night I felt like I was doing it all wrong and that I was going to get lousy tips the rest of the night.
Another one is that people don’t like to have to pay for anything. I had a woman order a Bloody Mary the other day. She said she really had a craving for one. She drank a few sips of it and pushed it to the side and asked for an Iced Tea or something. So I asked her if it wasn’t any good or what. She said it was fine but she just didn’t really want it. So when I brought the bill and the Bloody Mary was on there she complained. Saying that she didn’t think she deserved to pay for it since she didn’t really drink it. But it wasn’t made improperly, it didn’t taste bad, she just decided after she had it that she didn’t want it. So the restaurant deserves to pay for it because you ordered it and decided not to drink it? Should I take a dollar off your meal because you didn’t feel like eating the fries that you ordered with your meal? Didn’t finish your salad? Let me take off 50 cents for that. The manager (Chris) just deleted it off her bill. Not worth fighting I guess. It’s funny what people think they deserve.
I’m not bitter enough about it to serve sneezers yet. Not that I would or have seen it happen yet. But I’m seeing how servers could get that frustrated with people. I wonder what customers would say if I just told them that I deserved a way to release the frustration of having to deal with them.
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