A friend told me that I should go see more concerts, another friend asked me to go to a concert. It just seemed foolish not to go. So I spent the evening at a 311 concert in Anaheim at The Grove. The Grove is a tiny little place that I would suggest for seeing any band. If you were any closer you would be sitting on the stage. It was a great show and I have an increased respect for the talent of the band.
And it has sparked my desire to see a few more concerts in general.
Today we went and saw The Return of the King on the IMAX screen. It is just so great to see a movie that big. I am going to make it a habit to see thing on the IMAX screen.
Afterwards we went to The Crab Cooker for dinner. I had swordfish, which was pretty good.
It was a good night with friends, food and entertainment.
I am so happy to be heading home. A week away is always a long time, especially when you are cold and tired. A temperature in the 60's seems much better than the 30's that I have been feeling. My timesheet for the week lists out 75 hours of work; I am looking forward to a 50 hour work week when I get back.
Robert and I rode the train in from New Jersey to Penn Station in down town New York at about 5p. We walked through Madison Square Garden, Times Square, Central Park, Lincoln Center, and ate dinner at Trump Tower. We caught the train back to New Jersey and got back to the hotel around 2.30a.
NYC is a beautiful city that truly never sleeps. The streets had just as many people on them at 6p as they did at 1a. There are only two bad things about New York: one, it is not cheap; and two, it is so cold. Minus, these things, it is a great place to go and maybe even live.
It was snowing all day today. I made me realize how much I miss the snow. There is something very peaceful about it, relaxing.
Reason #137 on why neon lights are great: interesting new words appear when letters start to go out.
Example A: Middlesex Mall now reads "sex all". I would like to thank all the lazy people that allow signs like this to live for days or weeks by not promptly replacing the lights. Thank you.
You know someone is a hardcore Apple fan when they have an Apple logo tattooed on their arm.
I have never seen a Microsoft tattoo, have you?
I just can't sleep. I could not fall asleep until about 1a, and I woke up around 5a. I am tired; I just can't sleep.
I landed, I cabbed through, I liked.
Manders, Todd, Heather, EV, Kyle, Timbo, Ong, and I went out to Rockbottom tonight. I had a great time. I very much enjoy hanging out with my friends; and I plan on increasing the time that I do such. It is time well spent.
As part of my get healthy kick, I find myself trying to choke down this V8. Not being a huge fan of tomatoes, I finding this to be a very difficult task.
I am trying to build healthy habits now, so I don't find myself to be 40+ trying to change my lifestyle. The main push for this is my plan to have kids; and my desire to keep up with them. This is 4 years down the road, but I think it will pay off for years that I can't even imagine having.
Read a bit about BIND and DNS tonight. It seems pretty straight forward once you understand how it works. And that is the catch, there really is no place that clearly explains how DNS works. Oh well.
MxPx is playing about 3 miles from my house. And right now, it looks like I am not going to be able to make it, which is pretty sad. Looks like the tickets are sold out.
How often does your favorite band play within walking distance from your house?
It was a long day in the office. I spent most the day playing with data and document how it all goes together. I know it sounds boring, but it is what I like to do. I guess that is why I have this job, right?
Todd and Heather were kind enough to have us over for dinner tonight. I really miss hanging out with those guys. I need to start freeing up some more time in my schedule.
It is my second week back from Australia, and I still miss it. I really felt at home there. I guess I will see how these feelings pan out.
Ong and I came up to her parent house this weekend to pick up the dog. They have been watching our dog for a month (and we are very grateful).
But we got more than just the dog, we received some good company and a little rest. I always joke about her parents' home being like a resort. It is truly better than a resort. We get a free room, free food, free coffee, and free wine; it is all family, so there is no getting dressed up; and you are always with people you like. I would like to see any resort compete with that.
It is Friday at the office, but I am back to the grind. Even with working a short day today, I am looking at 53 hours in the office this week. The next few months of work are going to be very intense. Oddly, I am looking forward to it. I like the challenge.
I am just not sure how anyone could go to work everyday and be bored. Where is the satisfaction in that? Work is what you spend most your life doing; it only make sense to me that you should get some satisfaction from it.
No one wants to look back on their life and feel the majority of it was wasted.
Just got back from a long word day in San Diego. I must say that I really like San Diego; the weather is just always so perfect. It is on my list of places that I would like to live.
I was able to hold my cold back with enough medication. I felt a little light-headed the whole day, but I made it through. I don't think the client could even tell that I was not feeling well.
After a long day in the office, it is official... I am sick. The head cold has taken over. My mind has turned into a pile of mush.
I feel like I am starting to get a head cold. I guess it is better get a cold now instead of having one while I was away. However, I am traveling to San Diego tomorrow for work... and I am not really excited about being ill while I am there.
Still not back to normal my sleepiness is getting the best of me during the day. At about 3 in the afternoon, all that I would like to do it take at nap.
Back to the grind. Both Ong and I head off to battle just like we did before the trip. No easing back in; just straight to it.
I am proud of us. The trip was brutal and any normal human would have stayed home for at least one day to recover.
After getting home, we fell asleep for about 4 hours. I have never in my life had to fight getting out of bed so hard. The only thing stronger would have been death. It was that kinda of tired that makes your head hurt, your eyes blurry, and feels like you are drunk out of your gourd.
After a 30 minute battle, we got out of bed and went out to dinner. We headed straight for Mexican food, the one thing that Australia doesn't have.
And back to bed by 8p... and up at 1a... and up at 3a... and up at 5a. Just an odd night of sleep.
I left Perth, Australia at Midnight on Saturday; and I landed in Los Angeles, California at 6a on Sunday. If you do normal math, that is 6 hours from Perth to LA. However, if you do crazy time-zone math, you end up with a grand total of 25 hours of travel time. I don't know how or why; I just know it is true.
Ben and Stell took us out to a pub and restaurant called the Brass Monkey. It was a pretty swank place. I ordered the Coat of Arms plate. It was a meal of emu and kangaroo, which are the two animals on the crest of Australia. I would imagine that not in many counties can you legally eat the nation animals.
Ong and I went to the zoo today. I was quite impressed with the Perth Zoo. I think it is in the top five of zoos that I have visited.
The section of the zoo where they just had kangaroos running around was my favorite. We walked into a section and there was a kangaroo crossing sign. That was a small hint that kangaroos would be near, but I really didn't think that they would just be out in the open. After walking through for a while, Ong spotted a kangaroo... not in a cage. We we kinda looking around to see if anyone else seemed to care about this four foot tall kangaroo just hopping about, but no one seemed to. Later, we cam across a small herd of kangaroos just napping under a tree. It was truly a highlight of the entire trip.
We had to catch a ferry across the river to get to the zoo. I have never been on a ferry before. It was just like riding a bus... except on water. The Perth transit system is pretty neat. They have a clear and affordable trans it system.
It was a half day in the office; followed by a party in the park. Someone told me that this happens every Friday; but I have been here for three Fridays, and this is my first time seeing such.
Everyone one here in the Perth office is so cool and so fun. I am going to miss hanging out with everyone. It is always great to work with a good crew.
I had my all-time highest loss at a casino tonight; and oddly, I still had a good time.
There is only one casino in all of Western Australia, which I find to be odd. I know that this is not Nevada, but there should be more than one casino for a state that is nearly half the size of the country.
Ong and I watch Mystic River at the Sunset Cinema in King's Park tonight.
King's Park is a beautiful park that overlooks the city of Perth. The park is huge. I would imagine that it could take a couple of days to walk around the entire park.
The Sunset Cinema is an outdoor theater. A lot of people bring picnics and wine to eat before the sunsets. The weather here is so perfect for outdoor dining. Also, I believe that most the money from the cinema goes to charities.
And Mystic River... an average movie. No thumbs up; no thumbs down. Rent it; don't buy it.
My goal from before leaving the States was been accomplished. Merc has eaten kangaroo. Kangaroo lion to be exact. It taste very much like beef. Nothing to exotic about it.
I was told that they use it mainly for pet food here... pet food and tourists. Only in the last few years have Australians considered eating kangaroo. I have not decided if I am trendy or just a tourist.
Tonight, we went out with Ben and Stell to a cool beach town. There were signs all over the place that said things like "tell your friends that you walked on water." Apparently, it is a big deal that the mall was built on a wharf.
We ate at a place called Sharky's... and as you would have guessed, we had shark to eat. I have had shark in the past, and it was very salty. This was not; if I did not know that it was shark, I would have never guessed. It was just normal fish and chips. If you get the chance to eat shark, give it a try.
On the way out of town, we hit up 5 more wineries; and made the bulk of our wine purchases. In total, we visited about 10 wineries... all wonderful.
More details to follow.