The Leffie Rants

Wold Cup tidbit

2006-07-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

Chloe and I were sitting together and watching the thrilling end of the exciting Italy v. Germany world cup semifinal. Italy had just scored 2 goals toward the end of the 2nd half of overtime and the German team and fans were devastated.

Chloe looked at the Germans and turned to me and asked "Daddy, why are the German's crying?" I was a bit taken back by her quesiton since I hadn't noticed that anyone was crying, and wasn't sure that she was actually watching. Being the compassionate person I am I calmly explained that the German team had just lost the game and that they were very sad because of that.

Chloe turned to me and said "When I play soccer in the fall, if my team wins the last game, I will be happy and I will jump around." Then I asked her what would happen if her team lost. Her immediate response was "If my team loses the last game, I won't cry."

A few words of wisdom from my baby.

--
greg

Memo to MPAA

2006-06-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

My daughter is heading to only her 2nd movie in a theater at the ripe old age of 4. However she has consumed tons of DVD's. She's very excited to see Cars, a G rated movie that is sure to please the whole family. I wish that you and your stogey old suits would open your eyes and realize that the time to market the DVD for this movie is NOW. Include the DVD price in the movie ticket as an option and allow the movie goers to pick up the DVD on their way out.

Would this cannibalize the need for multiple trips to the theater? Yup. Will my family of 4 make multiple trips to the theater to see that movie let alone any others? Nope. Could it drive more people into the theater for their chance to have the DVD? You bet.

You could have my $$ now, or you can put together a campaign to waste millions of dollars in 4-6 months trying to convince me to buy your DVD. Your choice.

Sincerely,
Father of 2 young DVD watching kids.

WC Rant ...

2006-06-24T10:12:00.000-07:00

Dear FIFA World Cup officials,

Please feel free to instruct the hapless men in the "middle" to keep the yellow and red card in their pocket unless someone has lost a limb. This cup has been marred by incompetent referees taking it upon themselves to change the outcome of games. Let the players play. If anything, start handing out cards for excessive "simulation".

I know I'll sound like an old codger with this one, but for cripes sake, can you PLEASE tuck your shirts in? If the hoodlums in the NBA can keep their shirts tucked in, I think the players in the world cup can as well.

That being said ... I think we have been treated to some HUGE moments so far. Shaka Hislop comes to mind. Ghana exposing the Czech's as old and slow. USA exposing themselves as unable to overcome the bad luck that was somehow laid upon them. Amazing goals from all over the pitch.

Thank you to Germany for being a good host so far.

I'm sure we have great things to come, and I sincerely hope that we don't have to remember this cup as the one that the referees ruined.

--
leffie

Online shopping, watch your back ...

2006-03-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

I'm looking for a digital camera, specifically a Nikon D50 digital SLR camera. It's my latest tech-obsession ... well ... at least the one that I am most likely to indulge. I've been reading all of the reviews at Steve's Digicams, Digital Photography Review, Digital Camera Resource page, Epinions, Amazon.com, and Consumer Reports ... so I think I have it narrowed down to the one that I want to buy. Unless someone knows of a better camera for the money?

At any rate, the real story is the search for the best price. I've got a few favorite sites that I like to check into as far as pricing goes ... but this time around I thought I would check froogle.google.com as well. Usually google doesn't steer me wrong, but this time I have cause to question. When performing a search in froogle.google.com it will return your results like normal, then a list of paid search "ads" on the right column. Whoopee I thought ...

I used the search term "D50" and the top 2 ads on the right coulmn were ExpressCamera and BestPriceCamera - both of which were "new" to me. Being click happy, I thought I would check them out. I started poking around and everything looked okay to me. I thought I would check out each place on resellerratings.com which I have used in the past to get feedback for online stores that I haven't heard of. Well ... come to find out that each store has HORRIBLE ratings. They are both being accused of bait-and-switch and trying to upsell customers on things that are supposed to come with the item you are purchasing.

I read Google's policy on the ads that it shows, and they attempt to distance themselves from any responsiblity for the ads they show. I wonder how long that will last. Hmm ... so many issues with that.

The lesson I took is, as is most often true with anything, let the buyer beware and use ALL of the tools at your fingertips to ensure you are purchasing from a reputible seller.

New Year's resolutions

2006-01-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

Ya Ya -- the usual -- but this year it's being published for all to see, or not. At the end of the year I'll grade myseld with either a 1, a .5, or a 0 to see how I did.

ME:

Eat to live, don't live to eat ... stop the cycle of nervous eating.
Lose a total of 40 pounds throughout this year - final weigh in will be Thanksgiving morning.
Keep within that weight through the holidays
Exercise at least 3 times a week

MY FAMILY:

Become the tubby-time daddy - to give the girls their night time tubs.
Support Heidi in all of her "extra-curricular" activities by volunteering times to watch the girls so she can go out and play.
No computer and no TV before the kids are in bed.
One weekend per month is outside fun weekend - day hikes, walks in the neighborhood, geocaching, playing at the park - anything outside.
Complete the garage "project" - install wall shelving and ceiling shelving
Complete the backyard "project" - install summer grass

FINANCES:

Keep "eating out" to a bare minimum. Once or twice a month at work.
Define a monthly and yearly budget with focus on saving/investments

Begin regular investments in 529's for Paige and Chloe
Review investments with Heidi at least 4 times a year

Define a high level 5 year plan for our investments and finances - includes upcoming vacations, large purchases, home improvements, etc.

That's a good start ... I can always change/add as things come up.

Ireland - 10/2 (+10/3 flight back) - shopping

2005-10-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

(I had one more day to capture ... almost 2 months later isn't bad right?)

Sunday morning got started pretty late as Saturday night was a late one. I grabbed a quick breakfast at a bagel shop (bagels aren't as good as NY ... LOL) and then a coffee ... and then it was off to shopping. I spent the morning shuffling to and fro looking for gifts for family members. It was a bit of overload since it's hard to get stuff for people who don't "need" stuff.

Before I had done much actual purchasing, I figured it was time to have some lunch. Now admittedly, I'm not the biggest fish and chips fan, but Leo Burdock's was recommended as one of the oldest and best "chippers" in Dublin. I took that under advisement and decided to give it a try. When I walked in I almost bumped into myself. This store is VERY small ... it's what is commonly referred to in Ireland as a "take away". Just enough space for someone to order and look at the menu, pay, and leave. There were two people ahead of me ... one had just finished ordering about 20 fish and chip combo's ... WHOA! The next person ordered cod and chips ... and that sounded great to me ... they wrapped it up in paper and I was off to sit at the Christchurch Cathedral to eat. It was WAY too much food for one person. A HUGE piece of fish with a deliciously crispy shell doused with just enough malt vinegar to enhance the flavor. The fish was sitting on a bed of fried potatoes ... nach ... chips and I also had the nice helper to kick in a little of the "crispy bits" which are the fried floaties left over from the cooking of the fish.

After lunch it was a bit more shopping -- to actually make some final purchases -- and after that I met Brian at the Intel building to drop off my car, which by then was loaded with plenty of junk.

After the drop off we drove into "town" and decided to have Indian food for dinner. No ... not fry bread ... curries and dahls ... the spicy stuff from Asia. We tried a nice little place called Taste of India. The food was fantasic, and an incredible deal to boot. The proprietor was very accommodating allowing us to eat from the early bird menu even though we traipsed in a few minutes late.

After dinner it was back to the hotel for a night of packing and getting some rest for the LOOOOONG flight home.

I woke up Monday morning ... Brian picked me up ... and we were off for a day of crapping around in the Dublin and Chicago O'Hare airports. Ugh ... long flights and longer lay overs are just not part and parcel for a happy Greg. Luckily I made it home with no ill effects other than a slight case of jet lag.

Ireland - 10/1 - visit, country drive, pub crawl

2005-10-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning got off to a bit of a slow start ... I walked over to Brian's hotel - the Conrad Dublin - for a free breakfast (Brian is the wheeler and dealer and found a way to get free brekkie -- very nice -- and thanks for sharing!). It was a buffet style with all of the full Irish breakfast trimmings as well as yogurt, juice, cheese, breads, pastries ... too much food ... but good fuel for the rest of the day. While having breakfast I got a text message (which is like THE way to contact folks in Ireland) that one of our cohorts was coming into town with his little boy.

With impeccable timing, Andrew and his little boy Alex arrived at the hotel just as we finished breakfast. Little Alex is a handsome devil although I'm not sure where he gets his dashing good looks (sorry Andrew!). We all decided to walk over to a farmer's market that gathers in the Temple Bar area of Dublin ... and on the way we traveled through the gorgeous St. Stephen's Green. There wasn't much to the market, but what was there was great ... there was a bakery, a cheese peddler, a few butchers, some wines ... just a fun little experience. From there we walked over to Christ Church - a beautiful old cathedral in the middle of Dublin. After this it was back to my hotel and a lovely drive south of Dublin, into the country side of Ireland, on my way to Kilkenny.

Getting out of Dublin is always a chore ... however once I was out of the city center ... it was on the road to Kilkenny. The drive was very scenic and passed right through the heart of at least 2 towns on the way to Kilkenny. Brian joined me on this adventure into the countryside and actually did an excellent job as the navigator (printed/copied tons of maps, etc) where as if it was just me heading out ... I probably would have just started driving ... and would probably still be driving. HA HA! I was told that THE place to eat in town was called Langton's ... so the first order of business was to find lunch/dinner.

Kilkenny City is not a very large place with only really one or two main streets running through it ... however those streets are NARROW and WINDING ... so it's always an adventure. On the way through town I saw Langton's and made a mental note how to get back. About 30 minutes later ... after a narrow close call running a red light ... a U-turn through a petrol station ... and a 5 minute wait for a space in the local car park ... I was at the restaurant with Brian, ready to chow down. I ordered the roasted lamb with a leek soup starter ... very good eats. With the fuel in the belly, it was time to see Kilkenny ...

One of the main attractions to this city is the castle that sits up on one of the hills. It's a funny thing about traveling in Ireland ... you should really plan to do things early ... because by the time we ate lunch ... walked down the wrong street ... then found the right street ... the castle was closed! Ugh ... so it was onto the main shopping street. While Brian was finding deals I was scouting some of the cathedrals ... the first one I came to was St. Mary's (Catholic) and it had amazing stained glass inside and tall spires on the outside. After collecting Brian ... I walked over to another cathedral, St. Canice's (belonging to the Church of Ireland), this one built in the 1200's!! It was time to say farewell to Kilkenny and journey back into Dublin.

On the way back into town I called Andrew to see if he was up to having visitors or even heading into town for a little night out with the boys. After getting completely lost on the way to his house ... I called Andrew and he literally guided me in turn-by-turn ... like a low-tech GPS system if you will. I got to meet Andrew's beautiful wife Liz and had a small tour of their new house ... Alex was sleeping ... so we didn't disturb him by heading upstairs. We visited for a bit ... and listened to Andrew and Liz's fantastic stereo ... then decided to drive into town.

Once the car was parked, it was onto the pubs. The first one we stopped into was called Neary's ... and Andrew filled me in on some little known facts that back in the "day" women were not able to sit in the same area as men at the pub ... and they also couldn't drink a full pint, instead having to drink out of a smaller glass. After a drink it was on to the next pub (can't remember the name right now!!) ... which was PACKED. We chose to go to the upstairs portion of the pub ... and there we encountered some interesting folks ... a few groups of ladies were eyeing our table ... and we all were assuming it was due to the 3 handsome devils that were sitting there. HA! It was fun to have a few drinks ... then the pub closed, so on to the next one. For me it was back to Sheehan's, the first pub I visited ... and another drink, and more people staring ... was I starting to get a complex?! Once again, we were hanging out until the pub closed ... then ... one more pub. The haute and uber-trendy Clarendon's. This reminded me of a Scottsdale-type pub where you had to look pretty and drink pretty beverages to be "cool". Needless to say ... I had a Bulmer's ... then stumbled back out onto the street with Andrew and Brian ... in search of some food to soak all this liquid up. We found a place that did kebab's and shawarma ... just what you need after a pub crawl ... garlicky chicken and pita ... with a few dozen of your closest inebriated friends. I wound up chatting with a few lads from England, and a few gals from Canada at this eatery ... and then it was off to bed after a VERY long day.

Ireland - 9/30 - late start and a nice visit

2005-10-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

Since I had been working so late this whole week in Ireland ... there was an understanding that Friday would be a day to "rest up" ... and that means you can come in a bit late. Since my night ended so "early" I didn't make it into the office until around 11am ... and even that was pushing it as my head was pounding. I did a little bit of work and then it was off to lunch around 12:30.

As a celebration for completing the project Deirdre - the manager of my counterparts in Ireland - took the group (including Brian, Caoimhe, Karen, and me) out to lunch at a lovely restaurant in Leixlip (can't remember the name!). They were serving all kinds of meat ... and I chose to sample the Salmon, which was an outstanding choice ... very fresh. The meal included 2 types of potatoes (mashed and roasted) as well as stir-fried veggies ... it was a feast for a hang-over to be sure. As a gesture of thanks, the group that I worked with in Ireland purchased 2 books for both Brian and myself as well as thank you cards. This was a very thoughtful way to say thanks, and to give me a little piece of Ireland to take home.

After lunch it was back to the office to get in a few hours of work ... catching up on email ... talking to the family back home ... planning the weekend's activities ... all the important stuffs.

When the work day was done, I was invited to visit with the only person that was missing from our original "team of 4" from Oregon ... Michael. He provided directions to get from Intel to his house ... and of course ... it being Ireland ... there really wasn't any street names ... just a lot of turn here, then turn at this town, etc. Needless to say ... it only took me 2 U-turns and 30 minutes to find his house. It was wonderful to see Michael and his family again ... they were just blessed with an addition to the family (about 3 months old). After a few hours of visiting ... it was decision time.

Do I go "out" ... or go back to the hotel and get some sleep. Stupid question ... when is the next time I'll be in Dublin on a Friday night? I dropped the car off at the hotel and proceeded to walk to the pub where there was another going away party for another person that works at Intel (don't ask me ... seems like a good place to work?!). The pub was called O'Reilly's and is located underneath an elevated train station in Dublin. The place was very busy, and VERY loud ... and apparently for me ... very difficult to find. I wandered around Dublin looking for this pub for about 30 minutes more than I should have ... but eventually found it ... and then it took me two times thru the place (no, it's not that big) to find my party. It was a low key evening with a few pints, some great conversation, and a relatively early knock off time of midnight. I was in bed by 1:00am for some much needed rest.

Ireland - 9/29 - tons of work and tonight some play

2005-09-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

Again the work day started early, and I had a long day to look forward to. This was to be the final day of the project work ... and it was again a very long one seeing me working until about 10pm.

But that's when this just get going in Dublin ... so the night was young ... the project finished successfully ... and there was much enjoyment to be had. There just happend to be a going away party for a few lads that worked at Intel (no one that I had met before) ... but that's no excuse not to join them for a few drinks.

I drove on back to the hotel and parked the car ... went up to my room to freshen up a bit ... then walked over to the pub called the Porterhouse (different location than the one I had visited earlier in the week). Apparantly this pub used to be called "Judge Roy Beans" or something like that ... but I'll call it good fun ... not because the pub was exceptional, but the company was outstanding. I wound up meeting a few new friends; Baz (short for Barry), Anthony, Cathy, Rob, and Brian. Now you have to understand that when I showed up at the pub, at roughly 10:30pm, I was ready to pass out from exhaustion. It's amazing what some good conversation, and a bit of liquid nutrition (read: beer) can do for someone. After about 3 pints ... I was feeling my oats ... and the pub was closing ... and then things got fun!

It was probably about 1:30-2:00 am and "we" decided to go to another pub/night club. The apparantly infamous Viper Room was the stop and after paying a cover charge(!!) we cruised into a totally EMPTY and DEAD night club. Not a problem in my mind since we still have the good company ... and the music is thumping. I kept being re-assured that the place would pick up as the rest of the pubs started closing ... oh ... and I also got introduced into a lollipop of a drink. It's called a Fat Frog ... made with very sweet alcohol drinks ... it goes down WAY too easy. After a few of those drinks ... I was dancing, singing, and whooping it up until about 4 am when the club closed. The rest of the gang that I was with piled into a taxi and vanished into the night as I made my way back to the hotel.

I finished the night with a short and slurry call home to heidi ... and then passing out.

Ireland - 9/28 - work, work, work

2005-09-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

Wednesday started just as Tuesday did, wake up, shower, drive to work. The project continuined on into the second day ... and much to my great joy, on into the evening. Another late night, not too many stories ... and back to the hotel for sleep.

Ireland - 9/27 - a birthday abroad

2005-09-28T07:11:00.000-07:00

I woke up early ... on this my 33rd birthday ... in a different time and place. I was a bit anxious about driving from my new hotel to intel as the path to get to onto the motorway was a bit tricky. I asked the concierge to draw a map, and it was perfectly simple to follow. Without it though, I would have wound up in south Dublin I'm sure. The drive in was uneventful and I was mentally preparing for a fun day (dripping with sarcasm).

My work day at Intel Ireland was to consist of working from 9am to about 10pm (which is most definately NOT the standard work day). The day was very productive, and the project work was wildly successfull with us being able to finish all of the things we had schedule ... although it did take a smidge longer than I had hoped.

The evening consisted of me driving back into "town", climbing into bed, and passing out.

Ireland - 9/26 - back to work

2005-09-28T03:04:00.000-07:00

After an adventurous first few days, it was time to actually "earn" the trip so to speak. I woke up, showered, and hit the road ... not knowing where I was going to spend the next night ... but I left my bags in the Westin Dublin hotel room just in case.

The drive into work was interesting as traffic in the vicinity of Dublin is totally insane. Thankfully I was headed out of town whereas all of the heavy traffic was on the way in. All in all I would say it took about 40-45 minutes to drive into work ... but it's an interesting drive full of narrow lanes and semi-confusing roundabouts (which are a rather interesting way to move traffic). Once you have been through the roundabout a few times ... you start to get a feel for how not to completely annoy all of the local drivers. Due to a slight issue negotiating the last roundabout on the way into Intel, I wound up in the wrong parking lot, heading in the wrong direction on the Intel campus. On the bright side, I got a nice driving tour of the campus, and once I was parked (a real interesting thing to attempt when driving a car on the right hand side!) it was into the building to start the work-day.

Monday was not to be a heavy day as far as work goes ... the morning consisted of breakfast with the group we are working with ... and a few meetings. Then on to lunch ... a few more meetings ... and a terrible fright from a project perspective. It seems that the project that we were to start the next day hit a snag when the building facility maintenance project that was to happen at the same time was postponed due to bad weather. It was a tenuous few hours the project managers negotiated to continue with "my" project ... albeit a few hours later than we were supposed to start. The day ended a bit late, but it was mainly due to attending meeting and chatting/IM'ing with folks from Arizona.

One of the MOST important parts of my work day was to check in with the Intel Ireland travel agency to see what the status of my reservation is/was. I went to visit with the gal that was responsible for my reservations ... and SUPRISE ... she was not in on Monday. Luckily another gal that was working was able to find my "card" and said she would follow up on the status of my hotel. About 30 minutes later I received an email from her that cleared all the smoke from the situation ... my hotel reservation was actually made for the Fitzwilliam Hotel and the confirmation number was in their format. The travel agent had inadvertently typed "Westin Dublin" instead of "Fitzwilliam Hotel"!!!! Um ... not sure how you can make that mistake ... but the gal that helped figure it out was very apologetic and made sure that my reservation was still valid for the rest of my stay.

Leaving work the driving continued to get easier ... and I was determined to get to the Westin and get checked out, so I could then get checked into the Fitzwilliam. When I arrived at the Westin and spoke to the desk agent, she was very accommodating and mentioned that since I arrived so late and was trying to check out, that she would have to check with her manager to see if I would be charged for an extra night. Thankfully I was not charged ... so it was quickly up to my room to collect my bags ... and off to the Fitzwilliam hotel. The route from one to the other is WILD ... weaving in and out of the streets of Dublin.

I arrived at the Fitzwilliam and allowed the concierge to valet park my car ... not remembering that I left my bags in the boot of the car (read: trunk). I checked in and proceeded up to my room ... walked in ... and almost choked ... I had been given a smoking room!! (Can I catch a break on this trip?!). I phoned down to the reception desk to ask if there were any non-smoking rooms ... and of course ... there was not but they would switch me the next night. So it was a stinky night in the Fitzwilliam.

The night was young ... and Brian had text'ed me about having dinner and was asking where to meet. I didn't think I could fit the directions to get to my hotel in a text message ... so I told him to meet me at the Westin, and we'd go from there. I was off to walk from the Fitzwilliam hotel to the Westin ... and the best part was that I had no idea where I was going. I knew the general direction ... and started out that way ... but I came upon Trinity College and was baffled by the large wall and the fact that, again, I had no idea where I was. So I started off in an "easterly" direction ... and kept on walking ... and walking ... and walking ... until I finally figured out that I was lost ... and I should stop and ask for directions. After speaking to a nice young lady in the Alexander hotel she put me on the right path to get to the Westin ... ugh! 55 minutes later I met Brian and we walked around for another 20 minutes looking for a place to eat ... when we stumbled upon a place that Caoimhe had recommended (but if you didn't know where to look you would have never found) called the Pizza Stop. It was a decent little shop and it was a nice little dinner ... and I learned a cultural lesson about restaurant dining in Ireland. Apparently you have to ASK for the check when you are ready to leave since it is common for diners to sit at a table and have drinks and talk for a while after eating ... being from the US ... I was waiting for the server to bring over the check and shuffle us out the door. A big thanks to me buddy Andrew for this bit of Irish culture.

After a HUGE dinner Brian and I walked over to the Porterhouse Pub for a sample of Ireland's finest micro-brew beers. I chose the stout/porter sampler (read: heavy/dark beers) ... it was a nice way to try a few beers without having to drink 3 PINTS of beer. After dinner it was a short walk home (now that I know where I am going) and it was back into the stinky room. I called home to speak to Heidi and get caught up on how life is going on without me. I sure miss my girls ... and I wish they were able to experience Ireland ... but I can tell you that there is NO WAY COME H#LL OR HIGHWATER that Heidi would drive here. HA HA HA HA. And I can't imagine trying to experience something like Ireland, or any other country for that matter, with two little kids ... it would be an adventure in and of itself.

Ireland - the next day

2005-09-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

Day 2 was a Sunday - and it started off relatively early considering the night I had before (out 'till 3am). My co-worker Brian was traveling into town this day and sent me a text message on the mobile phone when he arrived at 9am ... and being me the guy that can't go back to sleep ... I was up for the day. I took my time getting dressed/showered and then went down to the hotel's restaurant for a full irish breakfast. For those that are not acquainted with the dish - it's a heart attack on a plate ... a fried egg, 2 pieces of rashers (bacon), 2 sausages, 1 black and 1 white pudding, half of a tomato, and some DRY white toast. Very, very hearty breakfast. After brekkie I checked out of the hotel, put my bags in the car, and was off for the day.

Now it was on to the roads in my car to practice driving ... I was looking for the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre but wound up exiting the motorway too early and found myself in a Superquinn supermarket. The market was very much like our supermarkets with aisles and aisles of food stuffs, fresh meats, and other various sundries. As I was leaving the market and heading on to the shopping centre, I got a text message that Caoimhe was heading to the hotel I had just checked out from ... so I went back there (great practice in driving on narrow winding roads!). I met her back there and I was off to follow her on over to Brian's hotel so we could head into town (read: Dublin), get me checked into my new hotel, and have a bite to eat.

We found Brian's hotel, the Glenroyal, in short order, and it's not far from the Intel campus, which means a nice short drive for him in the mornings. Once we collected Brian, we caravan'ed over to my hotel, the Westin Dublin, located in the middle of town. It was a gorgeous place with lovely dark wood throughout, very classic look. I parked in the taxi area out front while I went to check in. After giving the front desk my "surname" and having them print out a piece of paper that showed the name "Foley" on it ... I started to sense that I was in for some real fun. It turns out that the hotel did not have ANY reservation for "Leff". I provided them a confirmation number that was seemingly missing 3 numbers, and hotel manager came out to meet me, took my documents (emails & notes) and attempted to resolve the case of the missing reservation. They could not contact my travel agency nor could they find the reservation, so they put me up in the hotel for one night pending the resolution of the reservation fiasco. In the mean time, the hotel has asked us to move the car so a large bus could pull in ... thankfully Brian grabbed the keys, pulled across 4 lanes of one-way traffic, and found a "car park" (read: parking lot) to leave the car in. After sorting out that mess, it was on to lunch/dinner ... and a mental note to follow up with the Intel Ireland travel agency on Monday.

Brian, Caoimhe, and I wandered around in the Temple Bar area looking for a nice place to eat and watch the All-Ireland football finals. We decided to eat at the Auld Dubliner and instead of sitting downstairs, we climbed a flight of stairs and found a nice quiet table in front of a lovely flat-panel TV. The game was between teams from the county Tyrone and the favored county Kerry. Admittedly I don't know much about the game, but it didn't take long to catch on, and by the end we were actively rooting for both teams and it was very exciting. A lovely family sat beside us just before half time and we wound up chatting with them a bit about the game. Tyrone were the winner in a HUGE upset ... and their supporters rushed the field and celebrated in grand fashion. The dinner I ate was a lamb roast with carrots, broccoli, cabbage, and - of course - potatoes. It was a lovely dinner - a bit bland - but to be expected as the Irish cuisine does not seem to include much in the way of spices. After dinner we said goodbye to Caoimhe ... then Brian and I were off to wander around town.

We ventured across the O'Connell bridge and onto O'Connell street walking through the throngs of Gaelic football supporters as they were leaving the match that had just finished. There is a large spire/spike/radio tower in the middle of O'Connell street that serves as a land mark in the city. Since it was Sunday evening at this point (around 6pm) most of the stores were closed or closing ... however we did find Carroll's Irish Gift Stores open ... and they seem to be the national Irish trinket store. I'm sure by the end of my trip, I'll have been there a few times to get this, that, and the other. After the jog around O'Connell street, it was time for me to drive Brian back to his hotel (and get one more practice drive on the way to Intel).

On the way to his hotel, we stopped at a supermarket called Tesco, and filled up the car with petrol (read: gas). Dinner was next on the docket, and we wound up in a small Chinese restaurant (can't remember the name), but the food was just ok. I dropped Brian at his hotel, and jumped back on the motorway on my way back into town.

The drive along the motorway was uneventful and nothing really happened until I was driving along the Liffey River. A little set up is warranted for this next bit ... the roads in Ireland are fairly well marked ... however ... lanes disappear and re-appear like magic. As I was heading back to the hotel along the quays (pronounced "keys"), which line the Liffey River, I noticed a van driving a bit fast, and coming up on my right side in a lane that was about to disappear into a right turn only lane. I didn't think anything of it ... until moments later when that van decided to make contact with the back of my car! DOH! Well ... I was stunned ... in Ireland less than 48 hours and I've been rear-ended. Ugh. Well ... I got out of the car to survey the damage ... and luckily there was NO sign of damage, so I waived the foolio that ran into me on, and proceeded on to my hotel for a night of rest.

The first 24 hours in Ireland

2005-09-26T03:49:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting trip so far ... here's some of the stories ...

The flights from Phoenix to Chicago, then Chicago to Dulbin were mostly uneventful ... except that I was not able to sleep on the last leg making for a VERY tired Greg when arrived in Ireland.

When I landed at the airport and made it through customs, it was on to the hotel and to collect my rental car. And the adventure begins ...

I needed to arrange transport from the airport to the hotel ... so I visited the "information" desk at the Dublin airport. The helpful man at the counter informed me that a taxi ride would be about 60-70 euro (very expensive!). He said if I was not in a rush that a bus ride would only cost 5 euro ... it sounded like a decent alternative and also offer a chance to see the city. My next step was to check a local ATM to see if I could take a cash advance with my corporate card ... could not figure out what the PIN was ... so no cash. That and the fact that it didn't seem that the taxi would take a credit card seemed to make the decision easy for me ... bus it was. Of course, this is with my luggage in tow ... luckily only one rolling bag. The nice lady at the bus counter was able to charge my fare to the credit card, and then gave me a map with the bus lines that I needed to take into town (748), then one transfer (66, 66A, 66B), and on out to my hotel.

The bus ride into the city was fairly fast ... and before I knew it I was in Dublin, bussing along the Liffy river with no clue where I was heading, and all day to get there. I knew that I needed to change busses, but I wasn't real sure where I should do that ... so I watched most folks get off at one particular stop and thought to myself ... is this the right stop? But I kept on riding until the next stop where almost the rest of the bus emptied out ... yet I was still riding. On to the next bus stop when there was just about no one left riding with me ... I finally asked the bus driver where I could get the 66, 66A, or 66B bus line. He informed me that I should have gotten out at the last stop ... and that I should get out here ... and of course I was not paying any attention to where I was since I was in a sleep-deprived stupor at this point. So I blindly followed the path that the rest of the folks that exited the bus took ... and I would up on a street, going the wrong way, with all of my luggage, and no idea how to find the 66 bus line.

I was lucky enough to have a friendly bus driver pull up driving the 51 bus line, and when I poked my head into ask where I could get the 66 line, he told me jump on and he'd take me there. 2 minutes later I was jumping off that bus and the driver was trying to tell me to hurry across the street to catch the bus I needed, which was sitting at the bus stop. As I was making a mad dash across the insanely busy street to catch the bus, he pulled away leaving me to wait 30 minutes for the next bus. So here I am, on Irish soil for about 1 hour now ... and I'm effectively LOST in the middle of Dublin, waiting for a bus to take me to Leixlip (pronounced LEEKS-lip), standing across from what appears to be the main Guarda (Irish police) station downtown, standing behind Trinity College, and - only to find out MUCH later - standing right across from the Westin Dublin - the hotel for most of my stay in Ireland.

The 66A bus arrived right on schedule and this time I made sure to ask the driver if he was able to take me where I needed to go and if he could let me know when to get off. So off I went ... through Dublin and on to Leixlip. This bus driver was a bit looney ... having run thru yellow/red lights about half the trip thru Dublin ... but he got me to the Leixlip House Hotel which was my hotel for the first night in Ireland. Exhausted and a bit frazzled, I stumbled into the lobby and queried about my room only to be told that it was not ready and most likely would not be for another 2 hours. After a heavy sigh, I went into the lounge/bar and had a cuppa tea to relax. I still needed to collect my rental car, so I phoned my friend/co-worker Caoimhe (pronounced KWEE-va) and she was on her way to pick me up.

When Caoimhe arrived it was such a relief to see someone I knew! We climbed into her Peugeot 106 (read: small car) and proceeded to the Intel site so I could get my rental car. This bit about driving a rental car was the only thing that had me a little worried about being in Ireland since you have to drive on the LEFT side of the road and the driver sits on the RIGHT side of the car! My rental is a Ford Mondeo which looks nothing like any models we have in the US ... and although it's barely larger than my old Mazda Protege ... it's a GIANT on the road here ... which makes it slightly harder to drive. After picking up the car, I made it back to the hotel and finally got into my room and was able to get a rest for a little while. After waking up and being a little hungry, I ventured into "downtown" Leixlip which is really just one street long. Down the end of the street is an eatery called The Ryvale Tavern where I enjoyed a lovely turkey dinner ... along with a very nice drink called Bulmer's Original Vintage Cider. After dinner it was back to the hotel for another round of rest/sleep. Caoimhe was kind enough to invite me out for drinks with her two sisters (Eimear and Dearbhla - pronounced "EE-mer" and "DUR-vla" respectively). We started the evening at about 10pm!! and the first pub we went to was called Sheehans ... it was exactly how I pictured an Irish pub looking/smelling/tasting - LOL. After a few pints of Guinness we left and started out to a hotel called the Burlington which just happened to be THE pre-game party place for the All-Ireland football finals that were to be held the next day. It was an absolute madhouse in there ... a great experience for a yank from "the states" as they say here. All said and done, I wasn't in bed until 3am!

Are you ready for some football?

2005-09-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

Fall & specifically September brings professional and my personal favorite NCAA football. It's a tradition that I look forward to year after year, the monsoons, the cooling of AZ. I' hoping that my two beautiful girls will eventually show some interest in watching sports with their dad.

Most years I try to get a little preview of the up coming football season by attending ASU's Camp Tontozona. What a treat to drive up to the cool(er) pines just east of Payson and watch the young players of ASU build and grow into a cohesive team.

Yesterday was ASU's first regular season game, and their opponent was Temple University, who would most likely rank in the bottom 5 teams in division 1 NCAA football rankings. As such, the 'devils pasted 63 points on them, but did give up a disappointing 16 points. How can you be disappointed? Well ... the defense played GREAT ... and it's just so much fun to pitch a shutout ... probably more fun, and demoralizing for the other team, than a blowout.

The experience of the game was somewhat sad since this was the first game in a LONG time that I experienced without my friend Rob C. The group of friends that we attend the game with all wore our "Team Chambo" shirts from the Pat Tillman run to remember and honor our friend.

Tomorrow marks the 8th annual LFFL draft. What is that you say? It's the 4+ hours spent one Saturday in late August, early September where a bunch of guys get together and talk football. Eat football. Drink football. Well ... it's not that serious ... but it's a fun time where a bunch of friends from all over the US get together and have a good time making fun of each other and the silly decisions that they make when putting together a fantasy football team consisting of millionaire NFL players that each of them hope will have a BIG statistical year.

For my money - the fall is the best time of year. Football is starting up, and as an added bonus, you have some big holidays where my family gets together and shares great times!

Coke Zero - not bad

2005-07-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

In the ever crowded field of no-calorie soda - there is a new entrant - Coke Zero. I figured what the heck, give it a shot ... it's zero carbs ... zero calories ... and $.50 for a 20oz attempt - an introductory offer at most grocery stores.

At first taste, I thought I was drinking regular coke. It was sweet, with that carbonated bite to it. It was a lovely floral boquet with a slight hint of oak, berries, and something I couldn't quite put my finger on, but I think it was chocolate -- wait ... this is my Coke Zero review ... oops.

Seriously tho, aren't there enough diet drinks with diet coke and lime, lemon, grapefruit, and kiwi, diet pepsi with all those things, pepsi one, diet rite, diet RC, diet 7up, sprite zero, and the whole host of store brands, rootbeers, fruity things. It's a veritable cornicopia of flavors. Where does Coke Zero fit in ... well ... I think it's up there as one of my new favorites. At least this week.

Coastal drive

2005-07-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

From June 25th to July 2nd we took a very relaxing trip to La Jolla, CA. Heidi's mom and dad rented a gorgeous house right on the "beach". The reason that beach is in quotes, is that we were really on a bit of a cliff or bluff, with the beach being just below the bluff. It was an incredible sunset every evening as the glowing orange ball dipped below the horizon.

The first day we were there we ventured down to the rocky shore and looked around at all the tide pools full of crabs, anemone, and mussels. The cool breeze from the ocean and the rythmic pounding of the surf against the rocks was just what the doctor ordered.

Chloe enjoyed the ocean this trip, and she had a great time running out into the water as the waves came in, jumping into my arms just as she was about to be tripped up. Paige was a super beach sleeper ... I think the sound of the waves was very soothing and relaxing for her.

We were so very happy to spend time with our famliy. It was an incredible setting for relaxation and reflection. Life seemed just a bit slower, more comfortable. We were also lucky to have had a visit from Heidi's cousin Amanda and her husband John who live in Chula Vista.

A trip to Sea World was in order and it was a LONG, but very exciting and fun day. Both girls were amazing troopers since we left the house around 9am and didn't get home until 8:30pm ... and we were only 10 min from Sea World. I was exhausted the next day ... and just happened to get sick! Ugh ... so the ride home on Saturday Heidi had to drive ... thanks bubba!

late nite blogging

2005-06-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here. You're sitting there.

I'm typing meaningless drivel. You're reading it.

I've been missing a close friend that passed away recently. He was an amazing person that really knew the meaning of being a friend. It's just not fair that good people like him won't be around to share all that life has to offer. I'm not going to go into all the details about why Rob was my best friend - read the guestbook at the link - see what everyone has to say.

What I am going to say is that RC, I know you are listening, watching, reading ... it's what you always did, it's who you were. You always knew what was going on and were the glue that held so many lives together. The world is not the same without you ...

2005-03-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

And the other lovely ladies in my life, the Momma Bird and big sister Chloe.

2005-03-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

Paige giving us that great smile ... what a beautiful kid if I do say so myself.

2005-03-24T13:57:00.000-07:00

Here she is, baby Paige giving us a look at her tonsils. She's a very happy, well fed baby.

2005-02-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

Whoa, close up!

2005-02-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

One month old Paige with Chloe

2005-02-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

Chloe and Paige

Thought for today ...

2005-02-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

"Do all you can with what you have in the time you have in the place you are." - Nkosi Johnson (1989-2001)

Amazing that an 11 year old said this ...