JimVentions

The Big Easy

2009-11-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

Forgive me reader, for it has been more than a week since my last update. So much to share. I had a deliriously nice 4 day stay at home - Friday night I got home, and took off Wednesday afternoon. Things got very exciting with the Jersey client, and I put a lot of hours into the phone and email triage. But some key decisions were finally made, and I get to MOVE FORWARD with a few new things that I'd been spinning wheels on before. So, let's call it success!

On Tuesday evening, Pamela and I up and joined a healthclub again: The studio we had been going to just wasn't working for us: It's a 15 minute drive each way, and with scheduled classes we were having trouble meeting... so we joined up with a "chain club" that is just 3 minutes away AND offers child care too: We got signed up with a personal trainer, too, because we need someone to help us move forward and encourage us in our health. Pamela has been to the trainer twice already... my schedule won't allow for it until NEXT weekend, alas.

Speaking of healthy lifestyles, I'm in the airport coming home from New Orleans: My company has an annual retreat for employees to review the year and plan for next year. Lots of team building, but also a great exchange of ideas. Our hotel was on Toulouse Street a block off of Bourbon, so we were NEAR drunkDisneyland, but not so close that the whooping kept anyone awake. The first night, we had a big dinner at Mister B's and hit the strip. I had one of those Hand Grenade drinks that is basically sugar and denatured alcohol. One was enough, and as everyone was ordering their second or thirds, I sat it out and retired early. Even so, Thursday AM I had a flashing red warning sign in my skull that read "You are on alert: If you mess with that style of drink again, there will be HELL TO PAY". A few tiny bits of headache or woozy were offered up as proof, much like a ransomer might send along a piece of clothing or a finger to prove they're serious.

On Thursday, we had a 6 hour "relationship building" workshop, the intent of which was to let people know that IF they happen to hear about potential work in their network, it's not actually sleazy to follow up on it. The speaker was your standard cheezy guy, and he mostly "facilitated" us. In truth, he was up front with us saying "it's all common sense stuff, I just want you to examine what you're doing, and how you can do it a little better".

The guy probably didn't help his case, however, by coming out with us the night before, getting REALLY DRUNK, hugging everyone and giving everyone nicknames. I was Jimmy, there were two Dannys, a Craigger, a Gregger, Dawnie... Gigi became Gina all night... it was a bit embarrassing. The team bonded afterwards by doing impressions of the guy. So maybe it was money well spent.

Thursday night was a fancier dinner at TinFin, which had the distinction of being one of the slowest meals I've ever participated in. It was over 4 hours from sit down to stand up, and it was a standard "Apps, Salad, Entree, Dessert" sequence, not a coursing menu (which take 4 delightful hours). This was in a loud environment too, so our conversations were a bit tough. One of our team members had a childhood tracheotomy, and is a whisperer. I felt bad for her. We did all get up and switch seats frequently, though. 4 hours next to the same person? No.

Since we got out so late, and remembering my stern warning from my skull, I went straight to bed... but about half of the gang went out. LATE. Friday AM I was up at 6:30, walked around the quarter, got some Beignets and coffee, found espresso to finish the job, and was early to the morning session. This was a working session for 2010 strategy, and fully half of our team was SEVERELY hung over. One guy would leap up and run from the room occasionally. Others just held their heads in their hands. Two people simply didn't show up. NOT GOOD. I felt superior, but I didn't gloat.

Our sessions got done at 3, and we reconvened for another dinner at 6, so I had a couple of hours to wander around, so I went on my own walking tour, grabbing some chicory and beignets, watching the paddleboats, peering into the antique stores. Dinner was incredible - this was just the leadership team now, so a smaller place, which I cannot remember the name of.... I had roasted and flash fried quail, and then lamb loin with goat cheese... And we went out until 2am to a piano bar with an open courtyard... and we all stayed away from the Bourbon Street nightmare. On the way back I watched one of my co-workers get propositioned by a lady of the night as he walked WITH his girlfriend. Amazing.

Today I slept in a bit, then we went on a 2 hour walking tour of the French Quarter. It was very cool and I learned a lot, but it was also funny in that the guy started with high energy and lots of information, and by the end, the tips were petering out, and he was just waving at buildings saying "that's where they filmed Interview with a Vampire", "That's Nicolas Cage's place - it's being foreclosed right now". Great stuff. But it was some good exercise that the weather was beautiful.

New Orleans is a jealous mistress: when you're there, it wants your full attention. Things like "catching up on email" or "working on documentation" are not easy to achieve: Either the city is calling you to wander and explore, or you're in your room trying to rest up for the next thing the city throws at you. I actually have THINGS TO DO, and I wanted to update this blog, and tried all day to get to it, but the city kept calling. So I gave in, had a big catfish po'boy, waddled back to the hotel, checked out and headed to the airport a good 3 hours early in the hopes that this bland, sterile environment is more conducive to my productivity than the siren's call of history.

To wrap it up: It was a great trip, and unlike other "team building" I've done at other companies, I felt like this was very productive: We actually came up with some good strategies. And even though the trainer was a cheezeball, I picked up a couple of tips on how to be more productive with my networking which I'll be putting into action right away. The team building was great because the team is great - there are no clunkers or timewasters in this company, and everyone's respectful of eachother, so it was all just a good time.

Now, in the week to come it's going to get busy: It's a 5 day in Philly week, with one big presentation on Friday, a couple of visits to Jersey, and some hopefully some good talks with the big Philly client to get ourselves back in alignment. I may need to ramp it back too, because one of the things we may have done in the retreat is written me into a VERY strategic opportunity in Cleveland... only 3 months and not all onsite (YES) but enormous visibility and it would be quite the feather in the cap.

I wonder how my clone is coming along?

But this does mean that I'll be seeing the family for ONE day out of 8, which really really sucks. At least the following week is TGiving and I'm taking the whole week with the family... and we're driving to Chicagoland. I cannot wait!

S'gonna be allright

2009-11-05T14:06:00.000-08:00

So the last post had some frustration in it. No question I'm having some issues with the clients, but nothing I can't work through. Last night I took a break headed to an Irish Pub, had a great burger and fries and a tasty brew, and felt my frustration melt away. I got back to the room and watched the premiere of "V", which was just fine. I got some good work done after that, and went into work feeling pretty good.

Yes I crunched more data, and yes I walked a long long way in these loafers that aren't ideal for long walks... and now I'm at the airport getting ready to come home for a long weekend: I'm working from home for half of next week, and the other half will be in N'awlins at our annual company meeting.

Three nice things:
First was listening to a podcast of Ira Glass interviewing Joss Whedon in front of a live audience. It was nerd-vana, and I loved every minute of it.

Second was remembering about Dr Horrible's Singalong Blog. I may need to watch that with Pamela right away.

Third was watching V: See, we KNOW the V's are bad, because we remember it from last time... but Morena Baccarin is just so wonderful as Anna. She was great on Firefly as well (as was Alan Tudyk, who plays an FBI agent... it it too much to ask for a cameo by River Tam - I mean Summer Glau? ;-> ) It's not high art, but it's a good diversion.

One final thing before I board: I went to a pizza place for lunch today where their motto is "Pizza by the CUT!" Which makes no sense so I had to go in. Turns out they make pizza in giant rectangles cut into long strips, and as you go through the line, the guy picks up one end of the strip, the guy lifts the strip and takes a pair of scissors: How much you want? They cut the size piece you want. Pizza... BY THE CUT.

It's a ridiculous gimmick, but the pizza was delicious, so I'm willing to forgive it.

Some Images

2009-11-03T18:34:00.001-08:00

1) Waiting in line watching while the woman at the register slowly fishes out her money, then counts it out. The woman in front of me was shifting from leg to leg with impatience, practically snorting with annoyance. So naturally when it was her turn at the register, she handed the person her item, then set her bag down, started fishing for her purse...

PEOPLE: You are buying something. You are sitting in line with nothing to do. Why not get your money out in advance? Is everyone secretly thinking they'll get to the register and the cashier will say "aww honey, it's free day today for you!" And if THAT happened, what hassle it would be to put that money back in your purse.

And I assure you in the above examples, these people were not juggling kids, nor did they have their hands full. Nope - it is just pooooooor planning.

2) I'm finding myself in some "poor communication" situations: At my primary client, during a meeting with higher ups to discuss our strategic plan, I worked through a powerpoint that I believed represented our best work. And at the end of the meeting, my boss pulled from a manilla folder HIS version of the strategic plan, complete with images lifted from my earlier work, but with a direction I had never seen. I work 10 feet from this guy, we've known about this meeting for weeks, I put this thing together, and he was working on a shadow plan in secret? Very strange.

At my Jersey client, I have a problem: I'm managing two of the people working out there, both of whom report to one woman who has caused problems in the past. She has a malicious selective memory, and is over her head and is quick to deflect blame. My "emergency" project was cleaning up after another consultant who ran afoul of her... and I'm trying to keep a lid on things... but it's hard when I get emails that say "CALL ME IMMEDIATELY". So I call, and she wants me to know she's "concerned" about my person. She hasn't done anything wrong, no, it's all going well.... but there's something... something she can't put her finger on. And she wants me to look into it.

Seriously: I'm getting emergency calls about a "Vibe", even though all empirical evidence indicates that everything is going well on the project. Sigh.

Halloween and More

2009-11-03T17:33:00.000-08:00

Another impossibly busy weekend, as usual. It was short, with me not getting back until Friday afternoon.

Now kids, I need to confess that I'm getting old. Not the spry thing I once was. And at some point in the last year, I acquired a "condition" - a mild hernia. It very well could have come during my fitness craze, or perhaps while hoisting my children over my head... but the fact remains that there's a bit poking through (not hideously - just a little bump), and decided to see a surgeon about it. So Friday afternoon I met with a guy who had been recommended by two neighbors. Dr Grubbs confirmed that yes, I have not just one, but TWO hernias. The fellow who was along with said "looks like a two-fer!". Dr Grubbs countered "I'd prefer a NO-fer".

He laid the facts out for me: Only 1 of a thousand hernias ever develop into something painful. But the surgery itself has an up to 10% chance of lasting soreness. So he invited me to do the math: .1% chance of pain, which could be operated on as needed, or 10% chance of pain if I pre-emptively operate. Given that the bulge is only cosmetic, and not painful in the least, I'm going for the "wait and see" option. So yay, a surgeon who isn't afraid to turn away business when it's not needed? That's heartening.

Halloween itself was a blast: Pamela was a fighting nun, Bella was a ghost (non-animal), Isaac was a robot, and I was a fancy french lobster. See?

I dare you not to sing "Lobster Face" to the tune of Lady Gaga's Poker Face. I DARE YOU. Anyway, we had a fine evening of candy gathering. Isaac, Zinsser, and I turned in early (8:15), and Pamela and Bella went on to party with the neighborhood until 11. It was very nice to be zonked out with my dog. I love my dog.

Sunday was a day of mostly sitting around recovering from the excitement. We had big plans, but they were for naught. Instead we enjoyed eachother's company. I headed back out to Philly Monday AM, and hightailed it right up to Allentown for some meetings which went into the evening. I got home and decided to veg out with a movie, and watched "The Hangover" which had been positioned as "incredibly funny" by several people. Maybe I was just too tired, but it didn't really do much for me - it felt like a greatest hits of other funnier movies... I was counting the references until I was exhausted.

it was mostly harmless (except in the parts where it was just offensive). Just not the belly laughs I was looking for.

This morning I got up early, ready to visit the client, and discovered the subway and trolley stations were locked. Silly me, I thought "hmm, this entrance is closed, let me find another". I wandered 3 blocks before figuring out: TRANSIT STRiKE. So I hoofed it to the client, who is about 25 city blocks away from my hotel (but very convenient when the metro is running!). I did a chinese lesson, and listened to This American Life.

I love This American Life, because I love imperfect voices telling stories. This week, it started with a woman who kept getting quieter and quieter, until her voice was rattling because she wasn't putting enough air to keep the vocal cords humming... It sent chills down my spine. Sometimes Melissa Block gets to that conspiratorial rattle too. Those are good days. But enough about the craziness of my voice fetish. The point is I walked to work on a beautiful morning, and I got a lot of work done.

Today I was a data wrangler - loading patient records from multiple systems and looking for mismatches. It's actually pretty fun, but it's definitely below my paygrade... but again, it's stuff that needs doing, and I'm glad to help. My boss was in the next room putting presentations together for a big meeting this afternoon. A meeting that got canceled at the last minute because one of the key participants was called into surgery, leaving the other 29 people who had found their way over in the middle of a transit strike without a meeting to attend.

I strolled back, with the growing realization the the loafers I was wearing were not intended for this long haul. I'm nursing some chafed ankles now, and am going to wear my running shoes on my hike tomorrow, and try not to think of 1980's career ladies hustling down the street with white tretorns.

No word on Fort Myers, by the way.

Allright, got a little more work to do tonight, so have a good one.

This afternoon we were supposed to have a couple of meetings...

A grand adventure

2009-10-26T03:58:00.000-07:00

First things first: Isaac's lip did heal. He's back in the game. I was seriously freaked out, but now am better. Thank you.

Sunday I decided to blow the kids minds and take them on an adventure... an adventure in public transportation. Isaac has been talking about busses and trains for a year - CAN WE GO ON A TRAIN? WHEN? WHEN? So this weekend, Pamela was out of pocket for most of Sunday doing an insane and extravagant flower arrangement to welcome the new pastor to her church... and I got to take the kids on an adventure with dad. Sunday morning, we piled onto the 6U bus headed downtown at around 10am.

Isaac was beside himself: We're on a BUS? WOW! Bella was much cooler about this, since she's been taking the yellow school bus for a while now, but she was fascinated by the differences - the seats, the advertising, the lighting, the paybox, the transfers... many many questions. I pointed out the city as it rolled past. Once downtown, we walked to the light rail stop and hopped on the train out to the Mall of America. Both Isaac and Bella commented that the train wasn't quite what they expected - it was so QUIET! And low to the ground! They have memories of the big clunky commuter train in Palatine, and the Light Rail is a different beast entirely. Once we got onto the rails and off the street they started to appreciate it more.

We got to the Mall in good time - the total transit was about an hour, so not really the BEST for the kids, but they were well entertained. A whole gang of people coming from an Eckankar meeting got on and were laughing uproariously at two in their part (who were German), eating bananas. Laughing a lot more than the situation indicated, really, but hey, let that light shine. A woman sat with me and chatted up the kids - she had been an 8th grade schoolteacher for 40 years, and knew how to engage them.

Once at the Mall, it was wallets open for fun and full steam ahead. We went through Underwater World, which blew all of our minds: What a great aquarium! They have Sawfish! SAWFISH! I assumed those only existed in Warner Brothers Cartoons. Bella loved the turtles - even the VW Bus sized one. After a quick lunch, we went into the amusement park, and blew through $20 in "points" on a number of rides: Isaac is now tall enough to go on rides with his big sister, and his big sister is now big enough to accept the savage thrills of the kiddie rides in good grace. I got to watch them sitting together on the Big Rigs, the Blues Clues airplane dogs... Though when it came time for the Merry Go Round, Bella insisted on finding an animal that did NOT go up and down. A sturdy camel did the trick, while next to her, Isaac whooped it up on a rabbit that DID go up and down.

We stopped at a cake decorating contest and decorated a pair of cupcakes for later, and then went back through the aquarium again. This time, we spent extra time "playing" with the starfish and crabs, who really didn't have time for us - being busy all inanimate-like. Helping with the Starfish petting area was a nice lady dressed as a zombie surgeon. I mean a surgeon who is also a zombie, not a surgeon who specializes in operating on zombies. We had to clear that up.

The hour of rides home was longer than the ride there, and Isaac was clearly tired. He had a 3 minute liedown with a didda, but then went right into flirting with an early 20-something girl who looked a bit like the kind of people I was hanging out with in my early 20s - punk-lite but with a smile. She was journaling or sketching or something, and having a great time peeking at Isaac. Bella and I had our own cuddle.

It was a wonderful day - and the kids were fantastic: Isaac stayed close and listened, Bella was a great helper, and she was obviously having fun. Apart from the food and experiences, we bought nothing (though I would have totally sprung for a plush Yo Gabba Gabba set if one existed).

Back home, we all relaxed and built up our reserves for the week ahead.

Not again!

2009-10-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

I got home safely, if a little late, and was happy to find we were having the neighbors over for a Pizza Party - good company, Jenny as a playmate for the kids, and fooooood. Not much to report on the dinner, BUT... after dinner we were having some dessert in the living room when 2 of the 3 kids burst in yelling about something silly (they wanted to put on a show), and pulling up the rear came Isaac.

Isaac had a red bloody mouth, with blood all over his shirt, and had dripped a red trail from the kitchen, and was screaming.

After the surgery this week, we were absolutely terrified: Pamela picked him up for comfort, I started getting ready for the trip to Children's Hospital... fortunately, JeMae is a triage nurse and was able to help us assess the situation, with some detective work.

As near as we can figure, all 3 decided to bolt from the kitchen at top speed to surprise us, but Isaac tripped and fell flat on the floor. His remaining front tooth gashed into his lower lip, actually breaking through the front just a little. We gave a cool cloth, some ambesol, and some tylenol, and isaac began to calm down and the blood slowed. JeMae took a look and let us know that it WASN'T the surgery site, so that's not a worry - this was a classic "bit lip" and the hole wasn't big enough for stitches, nor were any teeth loose, so we're better off just letting him rest.

So Pamela and Isaac went up to bed, and Isaac slept well. He did wake at 2:30 in pain again, and I gave more medicine...

By this morning, he was back in great spirits and insisted on going to swimming class, and then we went to Bachmann's for quiche (yes the site of the first Dental Emergency)

Around noon, he started shrieking again, and I gave him more ibuprofen and ambesol, and he's napping now.

The poor kid. It's just too sad to mention.

Why

2009-10-23T11:09:00.001-07:00

Why is there a "Dr Andrew Weil" brand of granola snack bars? This is not a good thing.

Why am I doomed to love TV shows that are pre-empted at the drop of a hat? Dollhouse is put on hiatus (again) into December, and Fringe is pre-empted by the AL Playoffs? These are shows that give me happiness. Let me have them.

Why did Caesar's Atlantic City run a pre-auth on my credit card for $350 when I was staying for one night, and the room rate was $130? I mean, sure I might order the Beluga Caviar service with Dom Perignon, through room service... Maybe.

Why do Video Slot Machines even exist? Without the satisfying "clunk clunk chunk" of the wheels, the whole exercise boils down to a random number generator. Yes, they have animations, and funny pictures... but what possible fun is there in hitting a button and having it say "NO" or "YES", which is what it basically boils down to?

I gotta go.

Short Ones

2009-10-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

1) Bella has taken to putting her favorite stuffed animals into a pillowcase and goes to sleep hugging the sack of them. She explained this to Pamela the other day:

"First, this way I can cuddle them all at the same time. Second, they're warmer in there together, and I threw in a little blanket for them to share. Finally, in case of a fire, I only need to grab the pillowcase to leave, and all my favorite animals are safe".

It reminded me of my "fire preparation plan" for our house growing up: I had a 2nd floor bedroom, and outside my window was a stand of tall pine trees. My plan was simply to throw open the window and leap out and grab a pine bough. I never practiced this, and in retrospect, I think the nearest pine branch was a good 8 feet from my window, which itself was 12 feet above the ground - tracing the arc of the fall, it's most likely I'd have a handful of needles, with the pine bough not slowing my descent in the least. It would have hurt.

But those practicalities mean little to a 2nd grade "fire safety chief", as I was. I had a PLAN.

2) I was able to escape Atlantic City with sanity intact. Walking around that town, even early in the AM, was a bit depressing. The place just reeked of old sweat and cigarette smoke. It was a long day though - 50 miles to Philly, drop Mike at the Airport, then another 60 miles up to Allentown. 4 hours of solid meetings with various groups, nonstop talking and note taking, then BACK to Philly for the evening.

I stayed at the Sheraton this time: While it's geographically closer to the client site, it's certainly not more convenient: From my Marriott, I walk 1/2 block to the Metro or Trolley, and get dropped off between 6 blocks (metro) and 2 blocks (Trolley) from the client site. The Sheraton, it's 6 blocks from the client site. No metro, but no drop-off-closer option. Plus it's $40 more a night, for which I'm not sure it's worth it even if it WAS a faster internet connection....

I did eat at the nouvel mexican place, and Fake Salma Hayek was nowhere to be found. But the food was good as usual. I made an appearance at my primary client this morning (finally), and am ready to hit the air for home. Crazy week, but a good week.

Oh, and no word on Florida yet - might have a call on this next week. My main competition is a guy who has a whole website built to create the illusion that he's a big company with dozens of top quality resources, but it's actually just him. He includes several pages of his "philosophy" on projects. I don't like it.

Atlantic City

2009-10-22T05:36:00.001-07:00

Hoo boy. Not really sure where to start. The drive in was gorgeous - a turnpike lined with brightly changing trees, only flattening out at the very end, when the road literally spilled us right into the parking garage of Caesar's on the boardwalk. Wandered through the skyway to eventually find the front desk, in an absurdly large chamber with a 20 foot statue of Caesar Augustus, overshadowed only by the comically large frying pan on a fake fire (advertising some Emeril-endorsed venture) that a 5 year old kid kept leaping at, hoping to clamber up on the handle.

I was given a key to "Suite 2536", and I was struck with two thoughts: 1) Wow, high room!, and 2) the building didn't look that tall from the street. Sure enough, I got into the elevator and saw the floors: 1, 2, 3, 4, 25, 26.... Yep. My scenic vista is of the airconditioning units. Also, the floodlights that illuminate the building are a mere 4 feet from my window. Fortunately blackout shade technology is pretty advanced, and I did have a dark room to sleep in.

After a few hours of work, I met up with Mike in the lobby. Mike was my boss at the last job and helped engineer a soft landing into my current happy place. We have a tradition of having fun in big cities, and when he got a call to do a sales trip to Atlantic City, he called me up and asked if I'd join him - dinner on him. With AC being just 50 miles from Philly, plus hotels very hard to find this week in Philly anyway, I said sure!

We found a row of restaurants - all "brand extensions" of more famous restaurants - Phillip's Seafood, Continental, Buddacon, and heartbreakingly, Sonsie. Sonsie is a beautiful place in the Boston BackBay and has a lot of memories for me (and for Mike, actually). It's where Pamela and I shared breakfast on the morning we learned of Lady Diana's death, for one. Mike saw Stephen Tyler of Aerosmith at Sonsie one time, too. And now it's a "Brand". Sigh. We couldn't bring ourselves to eat there, so we enjoyed the asian-fusion flava of Buddacon, which was pretty ok. They had Talisker at the bar, and I was astonished to see how much they were pouring for $14. Easily a double, if not a triple. One would have been enough, but I had two.

Then it was off to the Casino. Happily they have smoke-free areas.

I'll leave the details out, but I'd just like to have it out there that I went in with $60, and left with $60. My numbers went up and down... but never really did anything. Mike went in with $100, and left with $1,400. That's Mike for you. He walked up to a quarter slots machine, put in a $5 bill, and won $125. He hit 3 of a kind AND a straight at the 3-card poker table. Blackjack was more of a controlled bleeding - up then down then up then down... but you do blackjack for fun, not profit.

At the end, we accidentally ventured into the smoking part of the Casino, and Mike lost $300 in rapid fire at a 3-card poker table run by a sinister man with shiny rings on his fingers... We took that as our cue to escape, and I was asleep before midnight.

This morning, I got up not feeling bad (which if you know anything about evenings out with Mike, you know they usually end with a headache), but desperate for coffee. The Starbucks I had spotted the night before in the Pier mall was blocked by a burly security guard - the mall's not open until 11. What sort of cruel world is it when there's a starbucks that is NOT OPEN at 7:30am for a guy who needs an espresso? I hit the internet and found another one, out in the "real world".

That meant I needed to find a way OUT of the Caesar's complex first. Several false starts kept me going through skyways to other Trump properties - and no signs for "Exit to Street Level". Finally I found a sign for "Bus Lobby" - I figured Busses are on the ground. And yes, it was an exit. I just had to weave through a throng of bleary eyed gamblers who were headed "home". The Starbucks wound up being 3 blocks away, in the middle of an outdoor shopping plaza, and I enjoyed a quad espresso with the entire Atlantic City police force.

It's back to Philly this morning, then straight out to Allentown. I guess some sports team in Philly did a good thing last night - so I expect a bit of mayhem.

Jack o Lantern - The Day

2009-10-20T20:25:00.000-07:00

This AM we got up early, carried a sleepy Bella over to the neighbors house (who got her off to school for us), and drove to Children's Minnetonka for Isaac's procedure. Even at 6:30am, everyone was very very nice and chipper, and boy did they have a system for making everyone feel at ease. Lots of open play space for Isaac, and everyone including the nurse, the anesthesiologist, and the Surgeon came by for a talk, and everyone checked the wristbands and verbally confirmed what was going to happen....

At 7:30 we were brought into the operating theater, and they gave Isaac a two stage gas knock out: I held him for it, and watched him smile from the laughing gas, then his eyes roll up with the knock out. They say that some kids fight the knock out and writhe and cry, but Isaac just went out with a little wiggle.

For the record: I would prefer to never be in the position of holding my child as his eyes roll back into his head again and his body goes limp. It was eerie.

The procedure went quickly - just 10 minutes later, the surgeon emerged, gave us the tooth, and told us that in all of his years, he had never seen a kid so peaceful before the procedure, and go under so uneventfully. He said that when they go down smooth, they usually wake up smooth... And 15 minutes later he was awake in the recovery room. We cuddled him for 30 minutes watching PBS kids, while he enjoyed a popsicle.

He was in good spirits coming home, and we watched a few Yo Gabba Gabbas together, while I got caught up at work. By 10, everyone was yawning, and we launched into a collective nap upstairs. An hour later I got up, and went to work on the laptop, and the rest joined me up 3 hours later (!!!). After the big nap, isaac was in a great mood and wanted to play and wrestle, so we did play and wrestle like maniacs. Then he forced me to take him to Target because he wanted "A Racecar". The evening was spent with Lightning McQueen and Big Mac, zooming around the dining room table.

Bella dragged home after 7, having done a full day of school, plus her first day of Synchronized Swimming (our little Esther Williams), and was asleep before Isaac, amazingly. But while they were up, Bella was excitedly telling Isaac "WE HAVE THE SAME MISSING TOOTH NOW!!!" and Isaac was proud of his gap tooth "It's JUST LIKE BELLA!!!"

So it's off to bed now, and I'm hitting Philly tomorrow for a short week. Now that I know Isaac is ok, I feel allright about leaving.

Northwest decided I really needed to sleep in and proactively canceled my 7am flight (on account of weather... which isn't actually coming), putting me on a 10:45 flight instead, which completely messed what I had planned for this short week. But a few deep breaths later, I discovered that all is recoverable. And there's a huge convention in Philly this week, hotel rooms are scarce, so I decided to finally bit the bullet and try out Atlantic City (a mere 40 min drive). I'll write with a full report.

Jack o Lantern

2009-10-16T20:46:00.001-07:00

ou may recall last year when my Isaac had an unfortunate rendezvous with a stair and wound up with 26 stitches. Well, this morning he went to the dentist, and we discovered that in the year since then, one of his front top teeth has "died" and is abscessed - and is probably giving him some pain. So we have an appointment for Tuesday AM for him to go to an oral surgeon to clean it all up and remove that tooth.

And so my boy will have a missing front tooth for the next 4 years until his permanent one comes in. And I know he'll be just as charming and adorable, and I think it'll help his mood not to be in pain - not that he ever lets us know about that - he's such a happy guy I think he just shrugs it off. And strangely, there's neighborhood precedent: Theo up the block had one of his top front teeth knocked out when he was very small (I think 2 1/2), he's 5 now. So gap toothed boys are getting to be a bit of the fashion in the neighborhood.

But it's emotional, and Isaac does have such a wonderful smile today. I'd be lying to say it doesn't bring a tear to my eye. We had a lot of hugs today.

It was a long week in Philly - a lot of running around: One day in Allentown, one morning and one evening in New Jersey, and a lot of time working working working. I had a big deliverable due for Friday, but by Wednesday, we had acquired sufficient new information as to some costs involved AND some change in scope of projects we would be relying upon, we decided to shelve the presentation and take ourselves off the agenda.

And some of the ways in which we are seeing our project change are going to cause some big changes in my involvement: This may wind up turning into an internal process improvement project, along with a scope increase for their electronic medical record project, both of which would be handled by default by their internal teams. I may spend 2-3 more months getting everything arranged, and then shuffle off to let them act upon it.

Which might not be a bad thing, because a requirement came down the pike for a project manager in Fort Myers Florida that I'm the only person in the company with the right credentials for. So spending 50% time in sunny Florida starting in November might not be the worst idea... and Pamela may even want to bring the kiddos on down!

As a long week, I didn't come home Thursday, but instead caught a morning flight today. And for the second time in a week, I had an evening out with a co-worker - this time one of my pals from the Jersey project. We met for drinks and food at El Vez in Center City Philly - 3 blocks from my hotel, and a cab ride for him. We had some margaritas, and good laughs. The evening ended with two barely sipped absinthe cocktails and a stumble home... but I'm alive today.

After the madness of the past many weekends, it'll be nice to have a somewhat under-scheduled weekend ahead. We had my Dad and Karen over for pizza tonight, and the kids were out of their minds - lots of showing off and wrestling. Bella was asleep by 8:30, which speaks to how zonked she was. Tomorrow is pretty open, and after the kids go to bed, I'll have my Avengers over for late night basement haunting. Because I need my boys.

Fear not

2009-10-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

Yes gentle readers, the night passed without incident, the police and fire departments were not called.

In fact, I think that the histamine reaction I had from the bites of chocolate cake so thoroughly distracted my body that it almost forgot to react to the shrimp in the predicted manner. ALMOST.

Thank you for your cards and letters. It means a lot.

Preparing to explode

2009-10-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a wonderful dinner with my not-really-client John who helped me find this gig in Philly, with his wife and 18 month old son. They live in a cool converted warehouse space with one really big room, and the son sleeps behind a curtain - cool urban living, but they're already contemplating a move.

To prepare I had given John my two "watch out" foods - Sensitive to dairy, and can't do walnuts. He wrote back regretting that he won't be able to make his cheese and walnut pot pie... and all seemed to be going to plan. My spidey sense tingled however, and I loaded up on the allergy meds before heading over.

He met me at the train and took me to the swanky pad, where we were greeted by a big dog - of the "i'm allergic to it" sort. But I was friendly. I played with the boy, some sharing of crackers, some piggy back rides, some "my what a lumpy sofa" play. Then he was off to bed and dinner came out.

Shrimp Stir Fry.

Now, I rarely talk about shrimp: I don't think of it much. And it's something I don't mind eating. But shrimp has an effect on me. It gives me uproarious gas. But having already talked about allergies, I didn't think it right to say no, plus I figured I usually have an hour or two before the party begins, so I'd be back at the hotel... By this point, I didn't even blink at the flourless chocolate cake for dessert: I just ate the damn thing, and will deal with the breakout.

I'm back at the hotel now, waiting for the fireworks.

On the plus side, we had a great evening - we get along well, and we even kept the shop talk restrained and involved his wife: She is a nurse, and had great stories about the clinic she works at... as well as her time in the Dominican Republic - she did free clinic work there last year, and it made a huge impression on her.

I'm going to hit the hay early and hope I don't go into anaphylactic shock before the morning, when I need to pick up a Zipcar and drive to Allentown for a one day IT assessment. Love my work!

That's about it for now!

The lingering yuck

2009-10-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

So I've been mostly well, but have had moments of fading in and out of wellness: For a day I thought "Sinus infection", another day "Exhaustion". Today, there was an accidental 3 hour nap. I'm up too late, but am headed up in just a few minutes.

We're on deathwatch with Pamela's iMac again: This time it's the logic board... but this is the only problem I've had since I bought 3 years ago... and we do know how the lifespan of computers is not all that long anymore. It's just a month beyond its 3 year warranty, so this one will be a good $800 to fix, so we're better off going for a new machine. But the problem is intermittent, and at least it's not data related - our songs and pictures are safe, unlike the hell I documented a few years back. (The sharp eyed will note that yes, there was a data problem with this computer last summer, but it was with an external hard drive, not the computer itself). But I'm looking at another computer purchase sometime in the next few weeks, I suppose! Sigh.

Jimmy's techno mojo continues, because the cordless phones we bought last year are all expiring too - holding a charge for around 10 minutes of talk time before abruptly disconnecting. Seriously, what am I doing wrong???

It was a good day with the kids - we bought pumpkins and had lunch at Chipotle. Bella built a lego helicopter. Isaac jumped off of things over and over again and didn't get hurt. Zinsser walked to to door and barked when he needed to go potty, and didn't have any accidents. And Pamela even got a nap in too. We're switching the decor over to fall (though based on today, maybe we should skip it and head straight into winter decor! SNOW on Oct 10?)

Allright I'm headed up. Pamela is vegging to some Food Network, and that's ok. I stayed up too late watching the Tivo of Dollhouse and Fringe, AND getting caught up on So you think you can Dance. So yeah, the only TV I care about is on Fox. CRAZY.

Happy Birthday Bella!

2009-10-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

Today she is seven. Wow. WOW.

My cold is gone, but I'm still a bit under the weather: I've been working pretty hard this week, and late into the evenings, so I think that "sick" is just replaced by "exhausted".

So instead of staying up blogging tonight, I will go to bed. NOW.

(But if you're dying for some good Jimmy Stories, click on the Tales from the Nineties link to the right. I got stories)

Fully Better

2009-10-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

I'm back, baby. BACK. Just in time to head back to Philly. Sigh.

The weekend was fifteen kinds of crazy, thanks to Pamela being out of town (in Chicago participating in Senior Year homecoming activities for Bailey and Ty, the twins I've known since they were mere months old). I couldn't go, but I did hold down the fort.

And it was a whirlwind of a weekend: I had 8 kids in the basement for much of Saturday, Isaac didn't nap at any time, and I even squeezed in an Avengers gathering. But we were all thrilled to see Pamela back today.

It's a short update - The alarm will ring in under 7 hours, so I've got to go get that head on the pillow. More updates from the hotel tomorrow. I promise.

A little better

2009-10-01T04:16:00.000-07:00

Headed home now on an early flight, and I'm looking forward to meeting Pamela at the airport for a lunch date before she heads off to Chicago for the weekend. It will be very futuristic, and if it was in a movie it would be symbolic. But it's actually just nice.

The cold moved on from the nose and decided to visit the lungs for a while. Good rattly coughs. I should be a real pleasure on the airplane. I'm medicated.

Did I mention it's early and I'm tired?

Sniffles

2009-09-29T18:42:00.001-07:00

Around 2pm today, I started falling down down down with a mild headache, the sneezes, and an impossibly runny nose. Emergency medicine applied, I made it through meetings and back to the hotel for a nap...

A bowl of hot Pho made me feel a little better, but now it's time for bed. I have a busy day tomorrow, and this cold needs to speed its way through. Water Water Water!!!

Update: Wed AM - took my morning meetings via conference call in the hotel, but am tentatively feeling better. The sore throat has not emerged, and the head doesn't hurt. I'm just a sniffle factory. I'm out in the world now. Starbucks has better wifi than the hotel today.

Only the craziest weekend.

2009-09-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Friday was planned to be busy: Pamela had been working on the Edina Family Center's presence for the Edina HS Homecoming Parade. 40 custom T-Shirts had been made. Huge signs. Hundreds of hand cut-outs. Our day was meticulously scheduled - I was to pick Bella up at 3:40, we'd hustle to the parade start, I'd drop the kids off and race back, park the car at the end of the parade route, run back and march in the parade, then post parade party.

Of course, after 10 days of near drought, Friday was the day the rain decided to visit. All morning, the moms were wondering if they should pull the kids out of the parade, just have a mom-presence in the float... but that decision was pulled, because the whole parade was canceled due to rain basically coming over the horizon sideways at people. Of course right at parade time, there was a brief clearing... and everyone slapped their foreheads... but then the rain was all "naw, just messin with you" and started back up.

But that was an emotional rollercoaster, and the only thing for it was some early birthday celebrating for Pamela with some Maggiano's and some Cheesecake Factory takeout. After packing the kids to bed, it was "decompress time". Naturally I took the opportunity to watch Fringe and Dollhouse, which make life good. Oh, and Friday AM is also when Zinsser got his cone off and was the happiest dog alive.

(BTW - it's Monday night. Heroes is just finishing up, according to the clock. But am I watching? No. They're DEAD TO ME.)

Saturday was a full on sprint day: Started with Isaac swimming (he really is the best in his class), and I ran into the drummer for my old high school band PG13 who threatened/promised to finally bring me a box of our albums (which I haven't had a copy of for at least 15 years) for next week's class.

Then it was a birthday brunch... Isaac and Bella got hippity-hops which they spent the weekend bouncing around on. Later in the day it was off to Bella's Birth Family for her cousin Clayton's birthday (and they also celebrated Isaac's, since he was born just a week before Clayton.) we got home and it was another collapse-in-a-heap evening.

Sunday we had people over for a joint Isaac and Bella birthday party with Cupcakes. Just 90 action packed minutes that felt like 4 hours, but seemed over in 15 minutes in retrospect. I'd like to formally apologize to all the parents in the neighborhood for injecting that much sugar into their kids... they were screaming and running around like maniacs, with frosting smudged on their faces. Spontaneous hog piles, climbing up high on the swingset... it was pure energy in motion. And the weather decided to visit again - high winds, and a drop of at least 20 degrees over the course of the 90 min with a little spitting rain... but that didn't keep the kids from playing.

With everyone gone, Tara showed up and took possession of the kids for the evening so that I could take Pamela out to Oceanaire to celebrate her birthday (which is actually today). It was one of those perfect nights where it wasn't too busy, the pacing was great, and the server was on our wavelength. And the food was as always incredible. It is a true pleasure when the "fine restaurant experience" is actually in full effect.

Oh, and of course there was work to be done as well: One of those fun things where one of my consultants took off on a 2 week tour of Italy, and one week in, the client freaked out that something hadn't been done, and it's up to me to try to get them connected RIGHT NOW. I think it all worked out, but it's still reverberating today.

Then it was up at 4:30 and off to my airplane. I now have an airport buddy: Dana who worked at my old place, but now works at my new place takes the same flight as I do (though we part ways in Philly), so we have a little time before boarding to catch up on the week, which is good since I'm the overall Project Manager of her project! The poor dear is only Gold Elite, not Platinum, so we'll never share breakfast up in First... I giggle nefariously. How odd that stale raisin bran is something I covet on an airplane but nowhere else on earth.

In Philly, it was GO time on one of the project phases: I finally got extract files from two vendors, and spent part of the afternoon loading them up into Access and doing comparisons... while also working with HR and Medical Records to get a temp to help fix all the problems I'll be finding. AND the info I filled my brain with last week has finally slotted into place and I'm busy typing to get all that down onto a less organic storage medium.

When I hit the ground later this week, I'll be Doctor Solo DaddyKins, while Pamela takes a little trip for the weekend... So keep holding onto your hats, it just keeps being busy.

Full Brain

2009-09-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

I had a few major interviews in the last 2 days, getting overviews on how Electrophysiology procedures are documented, as well as how heart-lung machines operate and when/how clamp procedures are documented.... also how Pacemakers are tracked, plus long discussions with peers at other hospitals about how THEIR cardiology departments are structured. That's a lot of info to take in.

I find myself in the odd position of feeling as though my brain is actually FULL. I can't even transcribe my notes yet - I need to close my eyes and let all of this information start to get collated and filed. I need to do nothing with my brain for a little bit.

Speaking of my brain: I had one of my odd "waking moments" last night. I woke up and grew convinced that all of my possessions in the hotel room had "shifted" to one or two rooms over: As though all of us hotel guests have our things on a lazy susan, and it had spun. That suitcase, that laptop, those clothes, all someone else's. Pretty much the whole floor was going to wake up and find someone else's stuff in their rooms. Unless I did something.

So I sat up, closed one eye, extended both arms in front of me, and "waved" them to the right. The first time didn't work: I felt my fingers "slip off". So I firmed my hands and gave a more purposeful flick. And it all rotated... but THESE weren't my things either. So one more flick, and I took a look, and yes, THESE were my things. Satisfied, I put my head back down, and was fast asleep.

Now, when I woke up, my things were indeed there. But more strangely, I remembered doing this whole thing very clearly, as real as if I had got up for a drink of water. So yes, a strange evening.

I'm looking forward to coming home tonight, having family time this weekend, and most importantly, having a one-on-one date with Pamela on Sunday to celebrate her birthday (which is Monday). It feels like months since we had time with just the two of us, and I'm extremely excited.

Ok - enough brain activity - time to go look at a website that makes fun of poorly made cakes.

Full of Garlic

2009-09-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, a food post. A few weeks back we tried to do a company outing to a well known Italian restaurant in the Southern reaches of Philly, only to discover they'd closed for good. There was another place nearby but it was too crowded, so we fell back to a good nouvelle-style place a ways away... but I was always curious about that other place. Ralph's is the second oldest restaurant in the US, operating in the same family continuously since 1900.

An unpretentious red sauce joint with tight tables and mobster accents all around.

But was it any good? I had ziti with grilled italian sausage with a very garlicky red-sauce. And it was wonderful. Add on a sprite, and I was out of there for well under $20, completely stuffed. The waiter was very nice, and we had a long chat about the Kindle - his daughter is going to college and he's hoping she can get textbooks on it.

One of the things that fascinates me about Philly is the subterranean complexity: There are areas near City Hall where you can go several city blocks without ever coming above ground - some areas are long tiled tunnels with harsh lighting, some are depressing 70's era underground malls. Some stations have art deco tiling and iron work reminiscent of the 1930s, others are newer and more sterile.

In some areas, there are three distinct eras of technology: The Broad Street Line (north south) is a classic old subway from the 30s or earlier, passing right under the street, a single flight of stairs down. The cars have a laquered metal look, and you can see the iron beams and parallel tracks as you go. The Market street line (east west) feels more like a 1970s line, with smaller, darker tunnels and gleaming aluminum cars. And deeper still are the old streetcars, which have large subterranean boarding stations in center city, and emerge from the ground west in University City. And right by my hotel, all 3 are present.

And that doesn't count the commuter rail lines running east/west just a few hundred feet north of all of this (which I use to get to the airport), even further underground, nor the entirely separate lines going eastward - the "Patco" lines with ill lit stairways on side streets and peeling paint indicating ancient disrepair, yet somehow it's still going. Whereever you walk, you feel the rumble of something moving underground.

The world right under my feet is bustling. It reminds me of my time in Tokyo, in the Shinjuku district, where we went blocks and blocks without being in sunlight.... but while it all felt very clean and new over there, it's all old, worn, and yet strangely loved here. You almost get the feeling that some of these stations aren't so much DIRTY as much as they're just like the well worn jeans you can't bear to throw away...

Yeah, I like Philly ok.

3 Years

2009-09-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

My little Isaac turned three years old today. I did spend a moment with him this morning just as he was turning 3: When my alarm went off at 4:30am to get me to the Airport, Isaac woke up too, hollering "DAD!!! DAD!!!! WHAT'S THAT SOUND????" I went in to see him and told him it was my clock. He chuckled - that's no CLOCK dad. It sounds like... like... a FIRE TRUCK!" I gave him a big kiss and lay down by his bed to help him drift back off to sleep... then crept off to the shower, though I would have loved nothing more than to keep on snoozing, even on the floor.

The weekend went quickly - our effectiveness was impacted due to the complete collapses we had on Saturday - but things felt better by Sunday. Sunday evening, we took Isaac and his two sisters (including Jenny) to the California Pizza Kitchen for a treat. Evening's not the right word - somehow once we arrived we realized it was only 4pm. But more's the better to have the place to ourselves as Isaac reminded us why we don't take him to restaurants: The boy cannot be contained. But he sure is cute doing what he's doing.

Anecdote from the weekend: Isaac came to me the other day asking if he can have the "DA-da DA-da". I had no idea what he was talking about despite his repeated attempts to tell me about the DAda DAda. Finally he took my hand and said "come with me, dad, I'll show you". He pointed to a card on the desk - a birthday card we have in wait for one of my friends - and I opened it - it plays the Chicken Dance. He started dancing, hollering "DAda DAda!"

So I'm back in Philly. Work was work: A smooth flight, but stuck in Coach. A beautiful room at the Courtyard that overlooks City Hall (I can look up at Ben Franklin). Got more things done on my assessment, plus work for Jersey, and some fresh work for an Allentown rehab hospital. Then took a little break for a short nap and the season premiere of Heroes. It didn't unlatch my brain or anything the same way as Terminator or Dollhouse has, so I may be a bit of a fair weather friend to this series this year.

Tomorrow I'm off to Jersey for the AM... good times will be had by all.

Unrelated

2009-09-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

1) I somehow fell into watching Syfy's X-Files Lite series "Warehouse 13".. I watched the premiere, and wasn't sold, but somehow wound up catching all 11 episodes thanks to downloading... and dang it they got me caught up in it. There are some truly loathsome elements, not the least of which is the liberal use of early 1990's pizzicato strings in the soundtrack for when they're indicating "they're just being cute here"... plus very unsubtle "backstory setup, backstory relevance" couplings: You know it's tough when in the premiere someone says "yeah, I heard about what happened in Denver" and you set your watch, and sure enough, in two episodes, you find out "what happened in Denver".

But these things aside, the core charm of the show is in these malevolent yet creative artifacts - sort of a whole show about the Weasley Brother's Magic Shop gone loose in the world with just a couple of FBI agents to try to keep it in line. I caught myself caring a bit, and having fun. So there you go.

2) We had some financial stress points these past weeks with the gap in me transitioning from contractor to employee with my new firm and a 4 week gap between paychecks, which I could/should have managed better.... As I've hinted - the past 18 months at my old job had been pretty bad for us, and we're clawing our way out of a pretty deep hole. Even though things have been getting better, we wound up in a bit of a bind this past week... Not bad enough for us to need to reach out to anyone (and there is help out there, I know), but definitely as close as we've got without actually going there. So when the check cleared Friday, it was a good thing, but in that instant, we both just deflated into heaps, not believing how close it all felt... And today we both reacted... Pamela with a migraine, and me with a general grumpiness....

Of course the kids picked up on it and were very defiant and yelling all day, which was extra fun. But by the end of the evening, equilibrium was back in the mix, kids were sleeping happily, Pamela and I had a good talk, and we're set up for a good Sunday.

And yes, everything is now ok.

3) Perhaps reflective of the stress, I had a very strange dream:

I'm on an airplane headed to Botswana (where in the real world, my company is managing the building of a hospital, so that's where that came from), and upon landing I realize I forgot my passport. As I'm walking through the Botswana airport, they have a food court just like any american airport, and so I stop to grab a drink while I work out what to do without a passport. I realize that the language of GOVERNMENT in Botswana is Dutch (which it isn't really) and regret that I hadn't done more work on that language.

As I'm pondering, I look over and see my friend Gene (who was also best friends with Mark Loesch in the real world), and ask him what HE'S doing here. He just shakes his head and his rough-looking friend stares me down. I exclaim "I've known you for 15 years, I see you halfway across the world in Botswana and you can't tell me what you're doing here?" As I say this, I'm on the floor, as someone has drugged me....

I wake up, on a flight back to the states.

A new lease...

2009-09-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

Philly again, after that week away. I'm feeling invigorated and am hitting the project(s) hard. Big presentation yesterday in Jersey, big meetings in the AM in Philly, and I'm feeling "re-bonded" with my client sponsor, who I think was getting a little bit prickly for some reason before my week off, but now all is well. And I'm going back out to Jersey tomorrow, and have multiple phone interviews set up through the end of the week... it's a good and busy week, and that's how I like it.

I switched hotels from the Four Points near Chinatown to the Courtyard right in front of City Hall: We're talking 4 blocks difference, but a whole world apart. Dunkin and Starbucks right around the corner, subway right there, but more importantly, the rooms are BIG, the walls are THICK, and the bed is COMFY and the internet is FASTER. It's definitely worth the $30/night more, but probably not worth the $120/night more it would be if I didn't get the hospital discount...

It was employee health awareness day at the hospital, and they were doing flu shots, but there was a huge line for that, so I "settled" for a full health evaluation: BMI, Blood Pressure, Glucose, Cholesterol. And I'm here to say that while I could use a little more fish oil and fewer carbs, my numbers are all in the normal-to-good range. Nothing is high. Which is a wonderful relief, especially considering I haven't really been exercising all that much in the past 2 months - 2 times a week max. I celebrated with a burger for dinner. Ain't I a stinker?

Speaking of stink - it was a wild day back in Edina: Pamela had things scheduled from 7am to 8pm nonstop. Zinsser got "fixed" (though he would likely disagree with that description) and had some dental work done at the same time. He is totally a dog wearing a cone. Isaac skipped his nap. Pamela visited the dentist and had NO CAVITIES! I got tired just hearing about it. Hopefully she'll get a good night sleep tonight.

Week 2 of school appears to be going without incident... and PapaBam are safely back in Chicagoland, much to our shared sadness. It would be great to have them up here full time. Papa could make magic wands for everybody, and Bama would be the dog walker.

I don't often post links but Caesar forwarded me a truly disturbing/hilarious site called "People of WalMart" and I simply can't stop looking. I know that makes me a bad person. BUT IT FEELS SO GOOD.

Sept 13

2009-09-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

It was two years ago today that I lost my friend Mark Loesch....

I was writing about him on the 90's blog and it was a good memory... he was a good man and I miss him.