Vacation in The Magic Kingdom

Vacation started last Sunday at about 5AM. Sharkey and I had to catch an 8:30AM flight so we had to be at the airport by about 7:00AM.



Our flight was "mostly" on time and we landed in Orlando and met up with Character Builder and family around 11:00AM.

Day 1: The Magic Kingdom

As we arrived in Orlando we stood in our first line for the week, for the Magical Express Bus. I think the most impressive thing was that I was in like a 5 queue line, but only had to wait like 5 minutes before I was checked in.



The Disney Cast member told me they were going to transport 1200 guests in one hour. My head spun with the logistics of that, but hey they are Disney. They have their stuff together. For anyone going to Disney, the Magical Express is awesome. You check your bags at the airport and you do not see them again until you are in your Disney hotel room. And from the time you board the bus, you are inundated with Disney media to get you into the vacation mood. Even the seats on the bus have magical, sparkly patterns. (Wide Eyed JP--Disney is great... great.... I love the mouse... mouse....)



We arrived at the Port Orleans Riverside resort and checked in. We were able to get adjoining rooms with Character Builder and family.




After a quick lunch at the resort, off to the Magic Kingdom we went. After a few rides, viewing a parade, and getting through what I will refer to as "The Dumbo Incident," we had dinner at the Crystal Palace. The kids were able to see their first characters for the week up close (i.e. Pooh, Tigger, Eyore, and Piglet):



(um, guy in the right part of the picture is a "passerby")


After dinner, all the girls went back to the hotel and CB's hubbie Jason and her son Alex and I went on all the "big boy" rides. You know, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, and The Haunted Mansion. After our "boys night out" we caught the buss back to the resort and turned in after a long day.

Day 2: Animal Kingdom & The Magic Kingdom take 2

Our next day we were off to the Animal Kingdom and to get anywhere from our hotel you have to take a bus or a boat. So here's Sharkey and Lauren sitting at the stop:



Upon arriving at the Animal Kingdom we saw the Tree of Life:



And after viewing that architectural marvel, we quickly realized everyone needed food, badly. So we stopped at Pizzasaurous for lunch, and while everyone was sitting down, I beat feet over to get a fast pass to the safari ride. As a Disney veteran and knower of everything Mouse related, I knew that a fast pass was a great idea for the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. So after lunch, we decided to split into girls and boys groups again so the boys could go on the thrill rides and the girls could find some other less adrenaline pumping attractions. So Jason, Alex and I headed to Expedition Everest:




The girls went to the Finding Nemo stage show and take a few pictures with Lilo and Stitch and we were able to get in the Dinosaur Countdown to Extinction ride:



We also were able to take the self guided safari tour and saw lizards, bats, monkeys, and tigers up close:






The tiger was the coolest! Not sure what they use, but I was a foot away from the big kitty. I was thinking I wonder what this glass is made out of. And why does the tiger keep pacing back and forth in front of me?

We headed back to the Magic Kingdom to meet our dinner reservation time at Tony's Restaurant. Before dinner we were able to fit in the Buzz Lightyear ride. After dinner we did the Monsters Inc. comedy room and got our place for the nightly fireworks extravaganza. Then after that show was over, the kids still had pretty good energy and since all we'd be doing is wait for a bus anyway, we decided to go on some rides. So we all went on the Indy Speedway Motor Cars, the Dumbo ride, and then Sharkey, CB, and the kids went on the Tea Cups several times, and the Carousel. And after a very long day, we went back to Riverside and all crashed.

Day 3: Hollywood Studios

Day 3 marked Character Builder's birthday and my 8th anniversary with Sharkey. We were off to Hollywood Studios, formerly known as MGM Studios.




Our first stop was the Indiana Jones Stunt show:



After that show, we went and grabbed fast passes for the Aerosmith Rockin' Roller Coaster



Soon after we took the Backlot Tour and saw a few neat props:

This is the bone cage from the Pirates of the Carribean 2 movie:



This sci fi looking piece is from none other than Star Wars: Return of the Jedi:



And the piece de resistance is Ear Force 1, Walt Disney's personal aircraft. Way cool!




Our day ended with dinner at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. Sharkey and I love this place. We had a few alcoholic beverages, and enjoyed a dinner with abuse from our server, Aunt Memory. Yah, we pay money to get slapped around at dinner. She even force fed Sharkey the green beans she didn't finish, before she could get dessert.



And so day 3 ended.

Day 4: EPCOT

Day 4 marked the other big occasion for the week, CB's daughter Lauren's 5th Birthday! So off to EPCOT we went because we had made reservations to have breakfast with the princesses.




This breakfast was like the best idea ever. Not so much for the princesses and breakfast, but we were able to get into the park before it was opened and walked around like we owned the place. It was awesome! I was able to snap some photos without gobs and gobs of crowds in the picture.





After breakfast we did more pictures with characters and rode on Soarin', Mission Space, and Test Track. After our rides in Future World, we walked around the World Showcase so Alex could get his EPCOT passport stamped in each country and grabbed lunch around the world in different countries. You know, quiche in France, udon / snowcones in Japan, burgers & fries in the USA, pretzels/bratwurst/chocolate in Germany, and snacks in a few other countries. While in Japan we also caught the Taiko drummers:





By 8:00PM we were all spent, our dogs were barking, lower backs were aching, and energy was reaching a low level, so we went back to Riverside for a low key night and grabbed dinner at the Waterwheel food court there.

Day 5: Downtown Disney

Our final day was our shopping day, so off to the docks we went to catch the boat to Downtown Disney:





We arrived and had lunch at the golden arches, Mickey D's:



We then went to shop at the World of Disney store:



And then hit the Disney Pin hut for Alex and into another shop where I found a Jedi Mickey figure for my work desk and the mystery bag of Disney goodness. Sure it was a bag full of a few clearance items, but the mystery bag could have contained anything. It was too enticing to pass by. Yeah, Sharkey didn't get it and berated me for falling for the marketing, but who am I? What's my name?

The only thing at Downtown Disney that was disappointing to me was that Ghirardelli's ice cream fountain was closed from remodeling. So NO HOT FUDGE SUNDAE!!! AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!! Well, I guess that means we'll need to return soon for my sundae fix right?!

And so ends the Disney Vacation for 2008. It is back to work tomorrow, and I do wish I had like 5 more days to just decompress, golf, and sleep, but I figure I have 20 more days of vacation for 2008 so there's time!!

JP out....

I Made It...

FINAL SCORE:

Ginormous Project - 5
JP - 0

Well, the "ginormous" project is finally wrapping up! And none too soon. I am fried. Spent. I got nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. So I finished my 5th straight Saturday this past weekend and today I turned over my part to the "ongoing" people to handle today! It felt goooooooooooodddd to perform that handoff. So I made it... I think I made it... Oh God please let this mean I made it!! So now I am trying to wind down and finish up the last few things I need to do before we fly off to Disneyworld to meet CB and family. I actually was able to sit down and eat dinner (which I cooked instead of bought) with my beautiful Sharkey. It was a bit surreal like, "Hey Honey where have you been, it feels like I've been away forever."

So things to do on vacation.... Well first of all, I am thinking we have to make our way to Downtown Disney and have a Ghirardelli Hot Fudge Sundae....


If you think the picture looks good, it's got nothin' on the REAL THING. Yes it is true, there are few things ice cream and fudge cannot remedy.

Next. Buzz Lightyear Ride. Sure it is for kids 4 years and up. But it is a BLAST! Sharkey and I always see who can get a higher score. And we have been known to go on this ride a few times.

I am going to wear shorts and short sleeve shirts all week. And I am going to try to recharge and relax. For no less than 216 hours I will forget all I know about technology and work thingy's... And who knows, maybe I'll squeeze a round of golf in there somewhere too. Next post will be from the Magic Kingdom folks. JP out...

T-Minus 12 Days...

UNTIL VACATION!!!! JP and Sharkey are headed again to the land of the Mouse (Hey Sharkey how's that Disney 5 year plan working out baby??!!!)!!! This time we are meeting up with Character Builder and family. Oh, Minnie, you're so fine you blow my mind hey MINNIE (and MICKEY)!!



I am going to eat, play, drink and chase CB's kids all over those parks! I am a Disney junkie in every sense of that term. We've planned this trip for months, I acted as travel agent and restaurant reservation concierge, and it's finally, almost here. And it comes at a great time. Let's see, this weekend may (hopefully not, but you never know) mark the 5th consecutive Saturday I spend in the office and I am in the midst of completing my GINORMOUS project and I am in desperate need of some down time!

Not sure if I ever explained this to you all, but Disneyworld is one of the places where I can totally relax. I think it is because I just forget about the day to day when I'm there. It's like... well, Magical. For a week I don't have to be "ON," I don't have to solve everyone's problems, I don't have to wear a dress shirt and tie, I don't have to sit on conference calls talking about converting data, I don't have to stare at a LCD monitor all day, and I don't have to work 60 hours a week!

I'll be taking my handy dandy Canon A560 pocket camera to take some pics and shoot some short videos. So I'll be able to hopefully share some Magical vacation moments with you all. JP OUT....PEACE!!!!! =)

Got Flu?

Ick!!!!! Yeah that sums it up. Well, all my type "A" dedication to my monster project and working and pulling Monday through Saturday for 60 hours/week for the last 2 weeks is coming steadily to an end. And it's in no small part to my succumbing to the plague that is ripping through my office. People have been in and out of work and have been falling victim to the good old flu. I thought I'd make it through the season unscathed. I do take precautions. I get the flu shot, I try to not touch anything Mr. or Mrs. McPlague touch, and I even do the paper towel on doorknobs routine (yeah I know, very anal retentive). And even after all that it was all for naught! To make a long story short, last night I had a great case of the chills followed by my body aching from head to toe. I do not think that there was a good square inch of me that did not hurt. Today I thought I was better and back to my JP self. No chills, no aches, but now my "guts" have a lot of activity. I'm not one to go into details (and you do not need to hear about them), so let's just say I am in full system shutdown for now due to DEFCON4 protocols.

So the way I figure it, my body is telling me I need a rest. So I am listening. The thought did occur to me to just suck it up and go in tomorrow, for about 20 seconds....=) So I made the call into work about 5 minutes ago and said, "Hey boss, JP here, I am not going to be in tomorrow. My guts feel like they have been run over by a semi truck and then thrown around by a thresher...you get the idea. Anyhow, I won't be in tomorrow and hopefully I'll be back on Tuesday."

So it just dawned on my I can sleep in tomorrow as long as I want. I'm going to mimic my dog and snuggle in tomorrow:



SCORE!! JP OUT!!

Oyasumi Nasai...

Oyasumi Nasai is Japanese for "Good Night...." As in good night I'm going to bed now. I am freakin' tired! Why am I tired? I think I may know. Mind you my tired is not really a physical tiredness either. I am mentally exhausted to a point where my perceptions of reality start to change. That is the reality that is JP. Here's my Monday - Friday schedule......


6:30AM -- Alarm goes off; JP hits snooze

6:45AM -- JP rockets out of bed

7:00AM -- JP kisses Sharkey goodbye, goes downstairs, lets the Maggie Dog out, puts on a pot of coffee and prepares either toast, bagel, or a Delight's breakfast sandwich

7:20AM -- JP leaves house and drives to work

8:00AM -- JP gets to work

8:45AM-
11:00AM -- JP sits in meetings

12:00PM-
12:30PM -- JP runs out to grab lunch to bring back to eat at desk (yes I AM that BUSY)

12:30PM-
7:00PM -- JP does project work, even more project work, and on top of that if that were not enough, even more project work

7:20PM -- JP arrives home (notice it takes 1/2 the time to get home at this time)

7:45PM-
10:45PM -- JP tries to relax, make dinner, spend quality time with Sharkey and play with Maggie a bit.

11:00PM -- JP showers and goes to bed.

This is my routine. It does not vary. It has been the same for the past 2 weeks. I am living Groundhog Day. I sometimes feel like I am living outside of my body watching JP go through the motions, if that makes sense. Maybe it does not. But again I am tired and I'm definitely not operating a full JP efficiency.

But I realize that this too shall pass. I just need to hang in there for a couple more weeks. Yeah, that's it. Two weeks. 14 days. 336 hours. There have been good things too. Like.........

My Sharkey is now, officially 6 years cancer free. She had a CT scan last Friday and it was GOOD... And she is b-e-a-utiful!!

Next weekend is a 3 day weekend because of Easter (THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!). And so I get a chance to rest. Sleep in... Play Nintendo... Watch a long movie.... Go to the golf driving range.... Maybe I'll be able to live in my body instead of feeling like I am in a perpetual out of body experience.

I am working out again, and this has helped a TON with the physical energy and stamina during the day.

Although I average 11 hours a day, have also been working Saturdays, and am exhausted, I LOVE what I am doing. I am in the ZONE. I am making a difference, solving issues, and working on what is most definitely the most complex project ever. It is AWESOME!!!

So I say to all of you OYASUMI NASAI

--JP OOOOOOOOOUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTT........ zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

You Gotta Try One of These...

So here at JP Jargon I try to keep things lite. I don't give any commentary on religion, politics, or social issues affecting our time. I have my other blog for that... ;) Oh no, here at JP Jargon I write about "important" issues. Case in point, I was driving home from the gym after 35 minutes on the elliptical machine and heard an Arby's commercial on the radio for their new chocolate turnover. So something akin to a "ding" went off in my head and off to Arby's I went OMG!!! You gotta try one of these things. They are freakin' awesome!!! What's not to like about puff pastry with a warm chocolate, melty center drizzled with chocolate? The answer.....NOTHING!!!!! Sure, the 400 calories I burned off were for naught, but the gooey choco-goodness was soooo worth it...

Crunchalicious

Remember the things you ate when you were a kid? You know what I mean right? You would go shopping with Mom and when you got to the cereal aisle, you'd throw a box ever so secretly into the cart. And she never noticed either!!! If you were anything like me you have a discerning taste and you thought carefully about the selection criteria. You look for the box with the best toy and the most tolerable cereal you could finish. There were always the standard fall backs, you know them I'm sure, Lucky Charms, Trix, and Cocoa Krispies. Then there's the Captain Crunch. Ah the Captain was always a good bet. You knew exactly what you were getting. Crunchy stick to your teeth, sweet milky goodness.

Now granted, the things you liked as a kid are not necessarily that great now that you're an adult. So the other week I was doing the grocery shopping at Wegman's and wandered down the cereal aisle. The cereal I usually eat now is Oatmeal Raisin Crisp, because it helps lower cholesterol and is a good source of dietary fiber. Yeah, it SUCKS to get older!! So I put a box of the crisp in the cart then my eyes catch a glance at....yep you guessed it, Captain Crunch. Neurons in the brain fire. I remember the Captain. I used to have a Captain Crunch bowl to eat that stuff and I had a Captain Crunch fire truck, and I'm guessing before I hit 11th grade I ate about 5 pallets of that stuff. I wonder if it's as good as I remember or maybe I should just leave the pleasant childhood memories alone. So I put a box in the cart. No regrets...

I get home, get the bowl out, pour out some Crunch and YUM!!! It totally is as good as I remember. Crunchalicous!!! Crunchtastic!!!

It's a Small World After All

I have been assigned a mega project at work. It has been just insane. From the time I get in the office until the time I leave it is go, go, go... It won't let up until mid April either. Oh well, you cannot make an omelet without cracking a few eggs right? With this project, I have to make phone calls to 30 different 3rd party companies on behalf of the mega-company to establish a partnership between my company and the 3rd party company. It is necessary for me to finalize the partnerships to fulfill the project requirements, and I have to get total buy in and cooperation from the 3rd party companies or the project will essentially fail, well, um, no pressure there... To make a long story short, one of the 3rd party companies is the company I resigned from back in June 2007.

So I was on a call with the client and a representative from my old company. We go through what the requirements are, and I do all the typical points of "We need this, this is why it benefits you, and here's how it affects the mega-company" The rep from the old company agrees they can accomplish what I describe and agrees to partner with us to get the job done for the mega-company, then she asks if she can have my contact information. I said sure, my number is XXX-XXX-XXXX and my name is "JP." At that point, the rep goes, "We have a JP at our company." Then I said, "No, you used to have a JP at your company." The rep then replied, "JP? Oh my God, how are you? How's Sharkey??? When did you leave?" We had a good laugh at that point. But I did have to call the mega-company back to apologize for the awkward situation and explain how I used to work for the other company. It just shows what a small world it is.

UPDATE...

My last post was about everything I've been dealing with lately. Since I put that post up a few things happened. My one friend found a new job and that position gives him equivalent pay to what he had, but more opportunity and a higher position than what he had before. My other friend who received the cancer diagnosis had a successful surgical procedure and is on the mend. With those two things resolved I can deal with the rest and it is time to pull a Maggie...

I Fix Things...

I am a problem solver. I always have been. Give me a hard problem and I'll find you a good answer. I cannot let any problem go either. I obsess over it. It's difficult for me to stop thinking about something until I have figured it out. I've prided myself with coming up with workable solutions for seemingly impossible problems. And the other truth about me is I like to help people resolve their issues. I have a good feeling when I can fix other people's issues. And when you can figure something out, lift someone up, and break some new ground that's never been touched, there's nothing else like it! I also think it is the part of me that identifies with heroic and iconic ideals. You know, you gotta be able to swoop in with the red cape and save the day!!!

But as practical and useful this skill I have is, it has limitations. Namely when it comes to health and personal issues. I learned some time ago that there are things I cannot solve or fix in either of those two arenas. cough.... Sharkey cough... cough... And it is when I'm faced with those things that I have found being a good listener and being available works the best. And for some reason it seems like I have been doing that quite a bit lately. In fact, 2008 has been kicking my ass!! That's probably why I haven't posted in a while either. I have had a lot going on and I've been trying to process it all and figure out what I should/could do for the people around me with these problems.

I have one person who lost his job and is the main bread winner for his family. So I've made a point to stay in close contact with him to make sure he has a sounding board, know I support and am here for him. I helped with what I could and tried to get some leads for him.

I have another friend who has been a father figure to me and was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. I had to cry a bit on that one, but once I got it together, I realized there were some things I could do to help. But I needed to reduce my schedule a bit. So I dropped a grad course this semester. So I'm helping, and I'm going to be there for my friend when he goes in and comes out of surgery and do a few practical things to make his world a bit easier.

And then there's my Mom, God bless her. She has been having a hard time lately. My Dad's been gone for 5 years now and she feels it. And when she feels it, I certainly feel it, because I get the call and end up being Dr. Phil for her for 45min to an hour. But I know she's doing the best she can and everyone needs to vent.

Dropping the class in hindsight was a good move. And it felt GREAT!! Reduction was called for in my life. I realized recently that I have been "on" from the time I get to work until the time I leave, because I still feel I need to show my employer my skills! I need to get a life!! I just need to accept it's what I do. I fix things.

Lazy Recuperation Saturday & The Quest for HD

Today Sharkey and I were supposed to head up to North New Jersey to have a belated Christmas time with my brother his family and my Mom. Unfortunately, Sharkey and I came down with the tummy flu so we did not make the trip. So we had a restful, quiet and recuperative Saturday. We took a cue from the Maggie dog:



We are both feeling a lot better and we pretty much were vegetables all day.

As you know, I began my quest for High Definition a few weeks ago with the purchase of an HD LCD TV. So after I realized my existing DirecTV was not cutting it, I setup Verizon to come in the first part of January to install HD FIOS. So last week I was watching DVD's and was thinking that my DVD player is 7 years old. I've had it as long as Sharkey and I have been married. So then that led me start researching HD DVD players. So I was looking around and was thinking of spending some Christmas gift card money on a new player. But I found the deal of deals on Amazon.com. They are selling a Toshiba HD DVD player for $179 with free shipping and you get 10 HD DVD's with it. So being that HD DVD's retail for about $25, they are actually paying me to buy this player. Well sort of....





But wait it does not end there. So when the new TV came I quickly found out my old universal remote was not able to control it along with everything else. So I had to go find another universal remote. So I looked around and found the Logitech Harmony 880. It's pretty sweet. You hook it to your computer with a USB cable, then you go through this interface and just type in your component models and it does the rest. It even creates "Activities" like "Watch TiVo" or "Watch DVD." So with the activities, you just hit the appropriate activity button and the remote will turn on the correct device(s), switch TV modes, and turn on the correct audio modes. It makes using all the audio/visual equipment way, way easy. Sharkey was nice enough to be my hand model:



But I "think" that's it, and it's what I told Sharkey too. With this last upgrade I believe I have everything I need for some HD enjoyment.

Ninja Warrior

OK, so a couple of posts ago I described how I am Japanese, but have no real ties to the land of the rising sun. I admit I am a whitey. But then there must be something genetic within me that catches my attention for certain things of Japan. I mean I am open to certain things that others would be totally opposed to, like sushi. Sharkey's relatives cringe that we eat raw fish from time to time. Of course these are the same family who say that to us as they eat pickled herring and lye soaked fish (now seriously people what do you think is worse???). Anyway, if you know JP, you know my interests are few and far between: golf, electronics/tech, Anime, and video games. With that I have been a somewhat faithful viewer of the G4 network. And there's a show that is really addictive called Ninja Warrior. Essentially, it is a show about an obstacle course. It takes place in Japan and it's a huge phenomenon there. There are 5 stages and some of them are just insane. But just as interesting are the crazy people who compete, which is also why my Japanese genes kick in (cause it's fascinating to think, these are "my" people):



But the real deal guys are the ones who are really fit and have excellent upper body strength. And if you have what it takes, you too can be like Makoto Nagano winner of Ninja Warrior!!! =)

Samsung, The Offical TV of the NFL

So this week, I finally got my LCD!! It was shipped right in time for Christmas from Amazon.com.



So like my MacBook post, I have to show you all a picture of the unwrapping process:



So I carefully took it out of the box, then hooked it to my entertainment system. Unfortunately I quickly came to realize that this TV was light years ahead of my existing equipment, and my existing standard video cable was not cutting it with this TV. So off to the Radio Shack I went for new component video cables for my DVD player and home theater receiver. I came back and hooked up everything, and powered it up.



It looks pretty good and DVD's look awesome. But the existing DirecTV connection is just so-so. See the thing is the LCD can process a lot more video information than what my satellite dish is giving it. So essentially the dish isn't giving the TV enough information. So the result is sort of a grainy picture. So this led me to the next change in the home audio/video equipment. I called Verizon up yesterday and we'll have HD FIOS installed the first week of January 2008!!! They are offering a deal right now where you get phone, internet, and HD TV for $150/month and you also get a free 19" Sharp Aquos LCD TV. Hello High Definition! Right in time for the Super Bowl!!!

HD Anyone? LCD Anyone?

So this week I received my job review and year end bonus. I told Sharkey early this week depending on what the bonus was I'd either call her and tell her we were going out to eat somewhere nice or that is was LCD time (i.e. time to upgrade the family room 27" tube TV to 32" flat screen). Well the review went well and I called Sharkey to tell her it was LCD time!!!

Tonight I ordered the LCD from Amazon.com with no tax and free shipping. It's a Samsung 32" LCD flat screen HDTV:



It's not the largest flat screen available, but it fits a few requirements:

1. It fits into the entertainment cabinet, (which it must per Sharkey), without me having to "alter" the entertainment cabinet with a circular saw

2. It has a built in HD tuner, 8000:1 contrast, 720p, and selective modes for games, movies, & sports. It is a Geek's dream come true

3. It is gadgetry extreme & received great reviews on CNet.

So now the question at hand is, drop DirecTV for Verizon Fios TV or upgrade to DirecTV HD?

Racial Profiling? How about Racial Marketing?

So I pick up the mail the other day and weed through all the solicitations and junk mail. And this beautiful piece of advertisement catches my eye:




This thing has no other English on it except for "Dish Network" and my name and address. Humm...now how did I get this mailer? Could it be they think I am from Japan because of my last name? So if you wondered if racial marketing exists, wonder no more my friends!! What Asian marketing list from hell did I make it on? OK, so what you have to know is that my last name is the most Japanese thing about me. I couldn't tell you what that flier said beyond Dish Network. I admit I do eat Japanese food like miso soup, sushi, udon, teriyaki, katsu, etc. But I am as the Japanese Nationals say a BANANA!! I am yellow on the outside and white on the inside! Come to think of it, when Sharkey and I first dated her parents were freaked out a bit (before they met me of course) that I may be too foreign for her. I think her Mom even asked if I ate ethnic foods. Sharkey said, "Oh yeah he sure does, he made us tacos just the other night!" Needless to say, I'm thinking I'm not picking up Dish Network anytime soon. I'm thinking it could be difficult to read my monthly bill in Japanese... =)

2007 NFC DIVISION NORTH CHAMPIONS BABY!!

OH.... YEAH!!!!!

What Will the Future Hold?

Today I went with Sharkey to a Christmas concert she played in at a retirement center. It was a lot of fun! They played some familiar and not so familiar tunes. The retirement center was not your typical nursing home. It was an assisted living place and a pretty posh one at that. It had beautiful hardwood everywhere, crystal vases decorating tables, plush furniture, oh and a bathroom around every corner, you know "gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now!!!" Where Sharkey's group played looked like a Broadway Theater. It was overall very impressive. I asked one of the staff when I could move in. =)

So I'm sitting there among the Senior Citizens in the theater and it got me thinking. So what will it be like when I hit that age? I mean Lord willing I make it to retirement and all. But think about it. Will I be talking about the "good old days?" Remember, when I had my new fangled MacBook and I used to watch DVD's and how Nintendo Wii was all the rage. And I can remember when clothes had to be dry cleaned and we used cell phones to text message each other. Of course that was when the 1st Internet was in place and I used to have my own BLOG to jot down all my thoughts. So will my grandchildren think I'm from Mars and dated? Will I wear velcro sneakers and pull my pants up to my armpits? I'll talk about all my television shows and how I remember all the great stuff as I slurp my protein Boost shake.

Why?

Why? Why do people do the things they do? I just do not get it. Case in point. I used my educational discount to buy Sharkey a new MacBook Pro laptop less $200 and Apple was running a deal at the time where if you bought a MacBook you could get an iPod for $80. The iPod was the 30GB Black one that can play videos. So our master plan was to sell the iPod on eBay to get back some of the cash we forked out for the MacBook Pro. So last week I took some photos, Sharkey wasn't satisfied with my photos, so she took more photos of the iPod. So I used both of our photos and I setup the auction to go for 5 days and waited. So today the auction closed at $260. I just don't get it. If you go to Apple.com, you can buy a new 80GB iPod for $249. So why buy mine? I'm not complaining of course, but I just do not get it. What was it? The eBay competition? My brilliant advertising on eBay? Doubt it. So I ask, "Why?"

On another note, I saw this little clay-mation skit on Saturday Night Live and I had to post it when I found it on YouTube. I think it's hysterical:

Thanksgiving Travel...

So I know what you are all thinking. This post is about the woes of airline travel on the 2nd most busy time of the year. The news people are going bananas on how the airports are madness, parking is nightmarish, crowds at the security checkpoints are out the terminal, blah...blah....blah....

So Sharkey and I started our travels to the Mid West yesterday. We also took my Mom to the airport who was traveling to NC to see my brother and his family. So we started off to get to the airport 3 hours before all of our flights. Here's how MADDENING Thanksgiving travel went for us ON THE 2ND BUSIEST TRAVEL DAY OF THE YEAR!!!!

1. We get to the airport and use the off site parking service total elapsed time 15 minutes.

2. We arrive at the terminal and check our bags. Humm... not too many people here yet, total elapsed time 10 minutes.

3. We get to security, hey look the line isn't so bad again, total time through security 10 minutes

So we now have 2 hours and 25 minutes before our flight. We have some Sabarro pizza, I finish my graduate paper that's due Monday, and we just sit around before our flight.

So the plane takes off, on time, we land, we get to baggage claim and our bag arrive in, no joke, 5 minutes. So at this point I'm thinking "do I say out loud this was the most non-problematic travel ever, naahhh better not, still have to pick up the rental car." So we pick up the rental car, (Saturn Aura, hey it's not bad, pretty sweet ride actually) total time 5 minutes, and here we are driving in the frozen land known as Minnesota.

So Happy Turkey Day to all!!! Wear your fat pants!!

You Know You Are In Trouble When....

1. You are mentoring with someone who says, "I don't know what to do. I'm at a loss" then asks you what you think he should do...

2. You go to sip your brewed tea and the thermal mug is too hot to hold, but you foolishly decide to take a sip anyway...

3. You pick up your wife's camera bag and her Nikon D70 falls 4 feet to the floor lens first...

4. You bite into your sweet & sour chicken lunch plate and it has neither sweet nor sour taste...

5. You install the Apple MacBook automatic update and are no longer able to use your HP Multifunction printer...


Sad but true... All of these things happened to me in the past two weeks. You really cannot make this stuff up. I think that's why Seinfeld is so funny, he points out that things are CRAZY for real!!

So of course after all this stuff happens you have no choice but to drown your sorrows with a milkshake.... A Wawa milkshake:

One of the Best Gifts Ever

This year for my birthday Sharkey gave me these:




You Follow Your Dreams

You Laugh At My Jokes

You Give Great Hugs

You Keep My Secrets

You Keep Me Warm

Just to name a few. See almost every day I have to wear a dress shirt, and this gift reminds me how much Sharkey loves me without anyone else really knowing. Pretty cool, no?

Customer Service, a Golden Apple

If you remember, JP is a stickler for good customer service. I have found that good service today does not come around very often. So when it does you have to tell other people about it.

So recently to support Sharkey's photography hobby which is quickly becoming a side business, we purchased her an Apple MacBook Pro.



Since I go to Graduate School, I get a discount on Apple equipment, also nabbed her the new Adobe Photoshop CS3 suite at like 1/5 the actual price (thank you academic software discount!!!),




and a free iPod through a rebate deal.



So here's where my awesome purchase took a turn. The order was hosed up because my wonderful credit card company "protected" me from fraud by denying the entire Apple purchase, which they perceived to be a red flag, out of the ordinary spending profile for JP, purchase. So I straighten things out with the credit company telling them, "Um, guys I really am purchasing that much equipment," and then call Apple to have them retry the authorization. So the iPod and Adobe software shipped, but the MacBook Pro was held up and the customer service guy couldn't reauthorize my card, but had to issue another order for the MacBook Pro and assured me it would not invalidate the iPod rebate.

So today of course my rebate was denied. I called the rebate service and they told me because of the legality of the offer, they couldn't give me the rebate and asked if I'd like to be transferred to Apple Customer Relations to file a complaint. So I'm like "You better believe it, this totally sucks that your guy told me incorrect information." So I talk to Customer Relations and they put me on hold for 10 minutes while they investigate my options. So on hold, I'm figuring out which appropriate response I'll use next:

1. I need to talk to a manager (with strong voice)
2. I'm returning the iPod and want my money back (with annoyed/strong voice)
3. I'm going to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (with pissed off, bat you in the crotch voice)
4. So wait, because I listened to your rep, which invalidated my rebate I have to eat the iPod (with determined, logical, come on see it my way, nice voice)

So the rep gets on the phone and says, "I cannot give you the rebate due to legal reasons, but I talked with our sales division and hey agreed to credit your card the amount of the rebate." And here I was getting ready to use response 4, and she cut me off. But I was impressed that they did give me what I wanted. And let's face it, in the end, isn't that what it is all about?

Class Over, Soup Time

My class from hell finished on Monday. The presentation went well, I rocked out the exams and ended up with an "A." Not bad, but the work definitely went way over what it should have been. It's just good to be done. So my next class started Wednesday. Yeah, I know, no rest for the weary. But the best part of my new class is that NO GROUP PROJECT, I REPEAT NO GROUP PROJECT!!!! I like individual effort. It's a good thing. If you screw up you only have yourself to blame. And no one but you can make you go back to square one. So even though one class ended and another one started, it's like I am on vacation.

Yesterday was interesting. I've been trying to learn my new gig in record time. I've been doing pretty well with that goal. See the thing is I have always felt I can do pretty much anything I want by thinking it through and I've been resourceful enough to make it through the most difficult situations. But the downside is that aspect of my personality can also get me into some "interesting" situations at times. So yesterday I found myself in the situation where I was trying to find yet another workable solution to a seemingly impossible problem. So in pursuit of a solution, I skipped lunch, ran up and down a flight of stairs like 20x, and worked about 12 hours straight. Needless to say, I finished what I wanted and completed some good work, but I was F-R-I-E-D!!! I suppose having a never say die and never give up attitude has its drawbacks.

So I get home, it's raining. It's been raining for days now on the East Coast. We haven't seen the sun in a few days. So I was hungry, tired, and needed to decompress. Rainy day? Comfort, feel good food? Hum... So Sharkey and I went to one of our favorite Japanese establishments and we had some good sushi and I had a nice hot bowl of soup, tempura udon to be specific:



There's just something about a hot bowl of noodles in yummy broth with a little chili powder that just puts things back into perspective!!! Oh and the deep fried shrimp and veggies didn't hurt either!!

Day Off

So I haven't posted since my birthday. I have been for a lack of better words, "burning the candle at both ends." I have been taking a graduate class and it has been just brutal. Actually, let me be more specific, the group I've been working with has been just brutal. Well, to be even more specific, one person in my group is EXTREMELY bad. In my experience, typically on the graduate level you usually will get to work with other working professionals who are for the most part very reasonable. Everyone realizes the class is in addition to your full time job (because they are in the same boat you are in) and everyone appreciates and works towards just getting the class project done. However, from time to time you get stuck with people who are a far cry from professional. So what's been happening is that for every 3 steps we take forward on the project we are working on, we take 5 steps back because of this person. These setbacks have meant pulling extra days to meet with my group after work, which was pretty unnecessary, and redoing things from square 1. And anyone who knows me will tell you I am SO NOT into doing unnecessary rework.

Finally, the other week I had enough of this person, and while everyone in my group was still trying to be accommodating (which in turn was putting us way behind), I finally had to take hard line and bluntly said "No sorry, we aren't making any more changes, we are moving forward." See, the thing is that for the most part graduate level courses are all about breaking into project teams, because that's what happens in the "real world." Man do I miss just doing individual effort!! I keep telling myself I just need to hang in there for 1 more week.

So it seems this is the first weekend I've had where I actually have nothing going on. So it was nice to sleep in and just RELAX!!!!! Sharkey had made some awesome pumpkin pancakes and it was a great way to start off the day:



Of course the gigantic mug of pumpkin coffee didn't hurt either!! Oh and ummmmmmmm bacon....