philly

Here's Emily!

Wanna see some more pics? Here are 3 more. My bro just sent them to me tonight. He'll have more for me soon, and I'll have tons more when I go and visit them soon. I'm so excited! I got a new neice! I wonder how Justin is taking it so far. I'm sure he'll love it for now, but after the initial fun of a new little sister, he'll want the attention again.

Changing gears...

So, Alegria was sooooo awesome! It was probably the single coolest thing I have ever seen in my life! Lady totally agrees too. Here's the lineup of Alegria: Opening Trapeeze act, Crazy Tumbling people, Hawaiian Fire Dance Guy, Metal Hoops / Ribbon Dance Lady, Strong Man juggler - intermission - Arm Stilt Guy [I dunno how to explain this guy], Bouncy Balance Beam Team, Flexible Lady and Finale Crazy Trapeeze Team. And we were like 25 feet from the state, so they were sooo close. The inside of the Grand Chapiteau was pretty cozy, much smaller and intimate than I thought it would be. You can see all the action from any seat.

And I know you all hate me already, but I may be going again, for free, with the Sales Department, later this month. So, bring on more hate.

I've been fortunate in my jobs throughout my life. I started off at Carvel which my family owned. That wasn't the greatest gig, but it was decent pay, off the books, and I got to eat all the ice cream I wanted - and that's ICE CREAM, not custard and they're SPRINKLES, not jimmies. My second job, while still working at Carvel, was for the Scarsdale Rec Department's Day Camp. That wasn't too bad either. It was basically a bunch of high school students hanging out and making sure nobody's kids died. And at the end, we all got some nice tips from the MILFs of Scarsdale. Then, senior year, I scored the summer internship at VIBE - the job everybody hates me for. It was 3 of the best summers of my life. I went parties all week, drank for free [while underage] and met all kinds of hip-hop stars. Over in D.C. my jobs weren't so hot. I got a work study job in the Office of Multicultural Affairs where I manned the front desk. I recall showing up late and falling asleep at the desk many times. I did meet some good peoples there though; one of whom I roomed with the summer of my last year in DC. I also worked at Modell's Sporting Goods in Bethesda. That was a stress-free fun job where I got to be around sports stuff all day and hang out with good peoples. The General Manager of the store was pretty awesome as well and used to give us 33% off the stuff we bought instead of the horrible 20% employee discount.

But then I moved back to NY. I transferred from one Modell's to another. I lasted there about 3 months before I couldn't take it anymore. They constantly fucked around with my schedule and finally, on New Year's Day, I called in and told them I was quitting right then and there. I had had it with them. And then, 5 months and change of unemployment ensued. I eventually applied for an internship at Nerve.com and I got a reply within 8 hours which was pretty crazy. I'd start my [unpaid] internship there within another 72 hours methinks. After my summer internship ended, I joined Spring Street Networks as a Customer Service Rep. Not the most thrilling work, but it was in an awesome office with awesome people and it was stress-free. I climbed up the ladder and became an Account Manager. I ended up having about 68 accounts across the US before they abruptly canned me with 0 notice. And then, another 6 months of unemployment. Then, it was temp jobs - I won't get into them here. Ugh. They sucked. j

And now, I'm in Illy, happily working for PW. And tomorrow, I get my first bonus check! 500 sweet, sweet dollars for me! Let's see if I can save it.

An Awesome Day

Today was a good day. Work went by easily, the rain held off [for now] so that I could go home and make myself an eggcellent proscuitto, mozzarella, tomato with olive oil and crusty Italian bread sadwich with some Counrty Time lemonade and yummy Hickory BBQ Wavy Lays AND I scored some serious free stuff from the office!

First I got a free pass to see The Corporation which looks likes a pretty sweet documentary.

Second I got 2 tickets to Alegria!!!!! I am so psyched!!! One of our Sales Reps was trying to give the tix to one of his clients but they all had plans tonight, so, he dropped them on my desk at the end of the day!! How sweet is that. The show starts in about an hour and a half and I gotta calm myself down before I go see the show.

Third my boss called me into her office as I was leaving to give me an invite to Cibucan's 4th Anniversary Celebration. It's a Cuban restaurant that I've been eyeing for a little bit now. I believe it's free drinks and tapas from 6pm - 8pm in their upstairs lounge. They're supposed to have some awesome drinks there.

So, I gotta run to the library really quickly to pay some fines then I gotta shower and head down to see Cirque! I'm so fucking excited!!!!!

One More Reason to Love Will Ferrell

Just watch as Will Ferrell invades the set of CNBC's Power Lunch. This unfortunately requires that you use MS Internet Explorer to watch it, can't win 'em all. And notice how lost the old guy is. He has no clue as to who the hell this guy is.

I'm an Uncle... Again!

Just a quick update from the office... I just got the call from my bro that I now have a new baby neice as of 1.42pm!! Sis-in-Law is doing well post-op and he's very excited. That is all.

Cirque du Soleil

The other day I took a bike ride over to the Grand Chapiteau of Cirque du Soleil's Alegria. I've always wanted to see a show, but my plans have always been foiled. In DC, nobody wanted to drive out to it. In NYC, just about every single show I could attend was sold out in like 3 seconds. Now, it's in Philly, about 5 blocks South of my apartment. This time, I may be able to go for free through my company in a couple of weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, nothing is set in stone or anything, but I received an email saying that we may have enough leftover tickets to take the department to a showing - keep your fingers crossed for me as well! That would be oh so sweet.

Another thing I want to do is to hang out with all of the Cirque folks. I passed by the rear entrance where their trailers were and saw some of them milling about in the middle of the day. I totally wanted to start speaking some French to them and hope that they'd invite me into their world or something, but of course that didn't happen. I just snapped some photos and was on my way. Oh well. I'd be happy with just seeing a show.

So the rear tire of the bike I bought is totally busted. It went flat, for the second time, in about 5 weeks. I brought it into the shop a block away and got a new tube and tire. The guy was ragging on my bike, but I didn't really care, he was a super bike snob. He was funny though, going off on a rant on Dubya for about 15 minutes as he took apart and reassembled my rear tire. Now the bike is running nicely. Methinks I'll take it for a ride after work tomorrow if it's not raining.

A Cat and an Anchorman

Today started out well, then it took a weird turn. I went home for lunch today, like usual, and made myself a nice sandwich and watched some TV. After I was done, I heard a meowing sound. I walked over to the door to my deck and it got louder. I opened the door and I saw a head. A CAT head. A cat was stuck in between my building and the next building over on a gutter 2 feet below my deck. I was astounded as to how this cat go to the 3rd floor of the two buildings, but I put that aside and let the cat onto my deck by clearing some mesh wiring. The brown and black striped cat eagerly walked over to my deck. It purred and meowed thankfully and started to rub its back on my legs as cats tend to do. I also noticed that the cat didn't have a collar nor tags of any sort; it was a wild/feral cat, of which there are plenty of in Illy.

At this point, I was already a little late to head back to work from my lunch break, but I figured that this was quite a story to tell them so I kept on... So, I was trying to figure a way to get this cat back to ground level. A brown shopping bag - that was my big idea. I would pick up the cat, place it in the bag, close the bag, bring it downstairs and then open it and let the cat free. So, I placed the bag on the ground and picked up the cat - yes, the cat actually came up to me and let me pick it up. It was quite tame. Step 2, place cat into bag. This step did not work out so well. It would just flail its feet around and not get into the bag. I let it down. It paced around the deck a bit and sat under a chair. Plan B.

I went back inside and went under the sink to get the large garbage bin. I brought it outside and called the cat over by making that kissy sound with my lips and waving at it, amazingly, it worked and it came back to me. I picked it up again and proceeded to put it into the bin. I got it in and then it promptly jumped out. At this point I was a solid 20 minutes over my hour lunch so I put out a bowl of water and headed back to work to think about how to get this cat off my deck.

At work, I decided to get a box, with a lid, and bring it home to catch the cat and release it outside. When I arrived back home, I noticed that there was no longer a meowing sound. I went out to the deck and sure enough, the cat was gone. How did it get off of the deck? I dunno. Maybe it jumped up to the railing and jumped to the next building? I have no idea. I even checked the street below to see if there was a splattered cat carcass, but there was none to be found. It got off somehow and I have no idea how.

Which brings me to the night. I had scored an extra pass to Anchorman and invited KT's friend Russ. He met Lady and I at the theater and we had a ball. It was rediculously funny throughout. I was nearly crying at a few points of the movie. If you like Will Ferrell and his crazy improv antics, go see this movie, if you don't, STAY AWAY. This movie, like Dodgeball is loaded with crazy cameos all over the place and one totally out of left field, but I'll let you see that for yourselves.

On the [15 block] walk home, I saw a wicker rocking chair on the side of the road and me, being the junk collecting pack rat that I am, picked it up. I carried this biyatch about 13 of the 15 blocks and up the 3 flights of stairs and out to the deck. It is a fully functional rocking chair and it was free and I am nice and happy with it out on the deck. So, if you'd like to enjoy some quiet city life out on a nice deck in a rocking chair, look no further, it awaits you.

4th of July Weekend

A year later, here we were in Illy. So far, the gang has celebrated the 4th, en masse, in Washington, DC; Chicago, IL and now, Illy, PA. Rain was involved in one way or another in each city, but we've always gotten through and had a blast regardless, take that Ma Nature! So, without further ado, here are the pics from our weekend.

We ate a round of 'steaks at Steve's Steaks on South Street on Saturday night and a double round Sunday afternoon at Pat's King of Steaks and Geno's Steaks. After some discussion, we decided that Pat's King of Steaks was indeed, King. I wanted to take a trip over to Rick's Steaks in Reading Terminal on Monday, but we were foiled by the pseudo-Monday holiday and it was closed. In my opinion, Rick's is the best cheesesteak in Illy, that I've tasted so far.

Before it got too late, we got some beers at Foodery. But to our surprise, it stays open to midnight every night, how awesome is that. This place has an awesome beer selection. You can take single beers, 6 packs of beers or a mix-a-6 pack of your own choice. We also got a bunch of Kahlua pre-mixed drinks. Sweet, sweet Mudslides and White Russians go down so easy, but feel so not so nice later.

Here's a quick lesson on buying beer, wine and liquor on Illy: you can buy liquor and wine in one store and beer in another, never all together. No beer, liquor or wine is to be sold on Sundays or before noon. You can only buy 6 packs or fewer from bars and convenience stores, yes, that's right, you can walk in to a bar, buy a 6 pack and walk out. You can buy a case of beer from a beer distributor, but no more than 1 case at a time; however, you can go back in and buy another case, but no more than 1 at a time. You can drink anywhere you want, as long as your beer is in a brown bag or covered unless otherwise noted - just assume you can drink wherever you are, just cover it up. Illy likes to drink.

Next on our docket was an all you can eat ice cream event at Festival Piers on the Delaware River. It was a charity event to fight pediatric leukemia. But for $5, we all ate our money's worth, me, with 10 cups and 3 ice pops, took home the prize within our group for big eater, but I'm nothing compared to Kobayashi who would eat me to shame.

Saturday night we met up with KT's high school buddy Russ who lives in Illy by the Art Museum. He biked over for some beers and we headed out to South Street for some sightseeing and beers at Tattooed Mom's.

Sunday started off with some cheddar and gouda omlettes courtesy of moi. Mmmmm, cheesy pseudo-gourmet omlettes. They make my tummy happy and oh so full. We topped them off with some nice hash browns. We headed over for the 'steak challenge and later watched the fireworks on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway as they soared above the Philadelphia Art Museum about a half a mile down the street. It was a short show, only about 20 minutes, but it was nice. I had several Kahulas and beers; those Kahulas did me in. I was back at the apartment passed out well before 1am, but I still had a ton of fun.

Monday started with some Madden 2004 between me and AK. Needless to say, I won. I also won 2 more times before he left on Monday night. Then, we were off to pick up the car and go get some eats. But as we walked towards where we parked, we noticed that, there was no car. It looked like we got towed. I called 411 to see if the Illy PD had it. I gave them Lady's plate number. They said they didn't have it in their system and their conclusion after 8 seconds? "You're car was stolen, tell me your location and we'll send a car over to take a statement." Good lord. It was stolen! We started to freak out a bit until some old guy moving furniture stopped to talk to us. "Did you park a Nissan with CT plates here?" YES we said. "Oh, that got towed earlier this morning." Did you see the company that towed it? "Yeah, Philadelphia Parking Authority." The car was NOT stolen. Stupid Illy cops. So, we were off for a trip to the Philadelphia Parking Authority lot. $100, a $25 ticket and 1.5 hours later, we were back on course for lunch, only Reading Terminal was closed. We got some [unbelievably] fast Chinese food and then dropped off KT at the train station. Back at the apartment, I waxed AK in 2 more games of Madden before we dropped him off at Illy International Airport.

All in all, a great weekend, that is, if you take out the whole towing thing. Oh well, such is life. After 1.5 months in Illy, we've amassed 1 tow and 3 tickets. That's still less than a lot!

Looking Forward to the Weekend

KT is already nearby in Warminster, PA, just 30 minutes north of Illy at her parent's house and AK will arrive around 4.30 pm at Illy International Airport from Chitown. I'm sad that 80 oz. and BoBenna won't be here and at the last minute, there was a chance that the ATL was gonna be represented in Illy, but she flew home to see her fam instead, oh well. The 4 of us will have to party as if we were 7 people, that's many more 'steaks to eat and I've got my Rick's punchcard at the ready.

This past work week went by unusually fast, especially today. At the end of the day, I was in the back with the MIS people chatting away at how we knew the same person for almost an hour - me from working with him at Spring Street Networks and them from high school in NJ. Small world eh? And we got to talking about our Personals sucked and that PW may consider changing over to SSN for their Personals. I said that I still had my contacts over there and that maybe we could make it happen; maybe that could turn into a bit of money for me.

Lady and I missed the fireworks at Penn's Landing tonight, we left too late. We were walking over and they had already started and when we were about 5 blocks away, they were over. It was only a 20 minute show, pretty crappy if you ask me. The fireworks in NYC are like 45 minutes long and totally coreographed to classical music. Hopefully the fireworks at the Philly Art Museum will be much better than tonight's crappy show.

Oh yes, the photo above is a little impromptu self portrait. I saw this H2 parked partially on the curb on my walk home for lunch earlier today and I noticed that it had some funky dubs so I took a closer look and snapped a photo of myself off of the shiny chrome and voila, there's me all dressed up in my white shirt, pinstriped pants and monk strap/box toe shoes.

Homeland Security

So, the Department of Homeland Security has told the citizens of the U.S. to stop using MS Internet Explorer. This makes me rethink my decision to go to Firefox, what does that smarmy tom Ridge have up his sleeves?

New Technology

So, recently, I decided to try to wean myself off of Microsoft dependency starting with using Mozilla applications; namely Firefox which is their really cool browser alternative to MS Internet Explorer and Thunderbird their stand alone mail application alternative to MS Outlook & Outlook Express. I had given Opera a whiles back, but I never thought it was anything special and their mouse "shortcuts" were not so short to me. But last week, I got hit by that Trojan Horse virus that was around last week. It didn't do any damage to my computer as I had caught it by running Norton Anti-Virus and wiped it out, but the fact that there are so many holes in the Inernet Explorer browser just doesn't make it the safest thing anymore. Even with my Zone Alarm Firewall and my Norton running, it still got through an unprotected hole in IE. I've been running Ad Aware as well as Spybot on my computer regularly, like every 2 or 3 days to make sure there isn't any snooping spyware lurking on my computer. Couple that with a bi-weekly Norton Anti-Virus scan and I feel OK about my computer. I'd suggest you to do the same.