East coast recap (for real this time)

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

After a very restful last night, I think I've successfully made the change back to normal working people time.

I'm just trying not to fall asleep during work.

So today's return to work was mildly painful. Stuff just piles up. And it was only one day!

Anyway, so let's see. here's what happened over the weekend...

Saturday morning started hella early. I woke up around 4 a.m.-ish and was on the road by 5. Traffic kicked ass - if only it were like this all the time.

Anyway, major props to Spirit Airlines. They are a worthy airline in my book. My maiden voyage (and the return trips) were very good. The people were nice, the pilots made announcements over the speaker clearly, and both times got me to my destination quickly - like 30 minutes early.

Can't beat that.

I also have to give major props to parents that travel with kids. I slept through one screaming child tantrum that took place in the row up front, and then the younger kid who sat in the window seat andnkept asking his dad the same questions over and over.

I think I admire dad the most.

He kept his patience during the entire line of questioning. All at the same time while he was reading the paper...

Must be an acquired skill.

Something to note on the flight into DCA - We saw the Washington monument on the left right before we landed. Kinda neat.

JDO came and picked me up at the airport and we drove the scenic route back to his house in Maryland.

I can really see why people love living on the east coast. There's definitely a different feel to the surroundings. I'm used to suburbia in the midwest, but suburbia on the east side is definitely different.

I was diggin the super smooth roads and the tree lined parkways. These trees were huge too - to the point where the branches converged high up in the sky and created a canopy blocking out quite a bit of sunlight in the denser regions.

You could have filmed car commercials on these roads.

The neighborhoods were very green with vegetation and had lots of character - Not so cookie cutter that you see around my hood.

And not as much concrete :)

After getting settled in, we took a break and headed off to the nation's capital to see the famous Mall.

to this day, I still think of the Mall as a shopping mall. Not the grassy area that the buildings surround.

So I could get the full experience, we took the Metro (view map) into D.C. to the Smithsonian stop.

I can't remember the last time I was in D.C. - I was pretty young. But one thing's for sure, everything was much more spread out than I rememer. The Metro stop was in the middle between the Capitol building and the Washington Monument.

We did some walking around (of course I had to snap some pictures) and ended up at the Hirshorn Museum. I've recently been on this modern art kick so it was on my very short "list" of stuff to see.

The exhibits were both kind of neat and kooky - And some stuff was just weird. My favorite exhibit was the big huge stick of unwrapped butter that was on the floor.

Afterwards we headed to the National Air and Space Museum.

For lunch, of course.

We got to witness a model of efficiency at the McDonald's food court area. I was impressed. 3 stations - Order, pay, and pickup. Plus, the whole system was scalable.

Sweet.

This trip was kind of a bummer for the soft drink industry though. Of the two places where we went and there were self-serve fountain drinks, the choices were severely limited - Either out of syrup or the machine was broken.

For instance, at the musem, you could have any of the 10 or so fountain drinks offered as long as it was Coke and Sprite. Everything else came out as syrup. At Ikea (on Sunday), you could have anything as long as it was Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, or water).

Anyway, after lunch we poked around the museum and caught an IMAX movie - Space Station 3D. I've never seen a 3D IMAX movie before, so it was a new experience. Definitely cool. I recommend it to anyone - Even if you think space sucks.

Which it does, theoretically.

Anyway, by this time it was getting kind of late so we headed back home on the Metro.

(to be continued - I'm tired)

-Kirk

East coastin'.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

I just got back from the weekend out on the East coast.

The thing I love best about the East coast is that everything's so close. I flew in to Virginia (DCA), stayed in Maryland, and visited D.C.

All in 3 days.

This vacation was a perfect mix of touristy stuff and just plain relaxing. It was very good to see JDO, his wife (Lisa Lisa), and their dog.

I left on Saturday and came back today.

I am super tired.

I am falling asleep at the computer.

I'll have to post more tomorrow.

-Kirk

Hey

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

Tomorrow I'm going to get up at 4:00 a.m. (or so) to get to the airport.

A 7:30 a.m. flight didn't seem so bad when I booked it.

I still don't have a good idea of what I want to do in D.C. Like usual, I don't really have a plan. But that's ok. I seem to like to travel that way.

A bummer on the annual Cali trip. GT Live (JGTC) isn't going to happen this year. Supposedly it's goingn to e kickass in 2006 though.

A tad bittersweet.

We had some funny conversations during lunch today. One of the ladies that we went out to lunch with asked, "Why is it when guys ask you out via e-mail, their subject is always 'Hey'?"

Hmmmmm. I woudln't know :)

Seriously though - I've never asked someone out over e-mail per se. But I am guilty of using "Hey" as my e-mail subject.

so we were talking about which is better to do at work - The face to face ask out, or the e-mail. I don't think there was a clear winner either way.

It all came up because some dude asked one of her friends out. And she was going to ding him. So it was kind of interesting to see what happens on the receiving end of those e-mails. Very educational.

I can identify with the nervous composition of e-mail, but that's pretty much it. The whole anticipation of the response. But I've never heard the other side where the recipient was looking for a nice way to say that she wasn't interested.

I never did get to see the e-mail response though.

-Kirk

Feels like the first day o school.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

The past few days have been rather mild out here. And I've been loving it. I love being able to walk outside and not break into a sweat the minute you walk out the door. The evenings have been the best - perfect sleeping weather.

Last night it was so cold that I had to shut the windows.

This morning's air had a definite crispness to it. Crisp, sunny, and and cool. It was a perfect fall morning (even though it's still technically summer). It reminded me of the first day of elementary school. All that I needed was the smell of freshly sharpened pencils and I would have had the full experience.

Well, without the screaming kids in the playground.

-Kirk

Different side.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

Yesterday I had lunch with a lady I used to work with. I haven't seen her in like 2 years or so, so it was very good to see her.

The best part was that I got to see a more personal side - In the past everything was more business oriented (from what I remember). She was talking about getting married and whatnot, so it was cool to hear.

It's nice to see different sides of people, especially ones that you work with. Kind of like how I like to see coworkers in clothes other than business casual.

It makes them more human.

-Kirk

The best way to make decisions.

Hi all,

Hope you had a nice weekend. Next week this time I should be hanging out with JDO in D.C.

So this evening I was at Target doing some light shopping...

I had one of those "damn kids" moments that I never thought I would ever have in a million years. I took the last 12-hour allergy / cold medication pill this morning so I was going to get another pack this evening. Well, ever since some kids figured out how to make recreational drugs out of over the counter drugs, Target (and other stores) no longer keeps them out on the shelves - Now you have to take this plastic card (from where the drugs used to be) up to the pharmacy counter.

Of course the counter was closed on Sunday night. Grr.

Sure it gives me an excuse to go back to the store, but still.

Damn kids - They screw things up for everyone.

Anyway....

I was poking around the toy aisle when I saw a young kid staring at these two Hot Wheels cars that he had picked out. He was staring at them very intently. As I got closer, I saw that he was pointing at them, back and forth.

Eeenie eenie miney moe...

It's nice to know that the very classic tried and true method of making decisions still valid and has not gone away with the recent generation.

I'll be sure to try that next time.

-Kirk

Milkshake as a meal.

Hi all,

Hope you're having a great weekend.

Yesterday for lunch I had a Baja Fresh Baja Burrito topped off with a Maggie Moo's Cookies and Cream shake.

We actually got a chance to sit outside. (first time this season!) The weather was perfect. Just a tad windy though, so as we ate, we had to hold down our plates to keep stuff from flying into the other people.

We lost some napkins that way and acted like we didn't notice.

Anyway, the most interesting thing for me was that I could have bought a fast food meal for the price of my milkshake (about 5 bucks, and that was a small).

Does anyone else see an issue with this?

I must say though, that the milkshake was good. One of the smoothest I've ever had.

I guess with the amount of bad stuff that was in that milkshake, it was a meal in itself.

-Kirk

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

This morning I heard on the radio that the Saturn Sky was going to be at one of the local dealerships. There wasn't any way I could go during work, so I tried going after dinner.

Alas. No such luck.

Either I didn't hear the announcement correctly, or the car was just displayed for the day. Oh well.

On the way home, I stopped by at the Target. They totally redid the front of the building. The storefront now ties in very well with their logo (the target). The signage has changed, and best of all, there are these red cement (I'm guessing) spheres outside that line the front of the store. They look really fun.

Like gigantic clown noses.

-Kirk

Let's talk about gas.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

Just a few things this evening.

As you probably know, there's been a lot of talk in the media about the high prices of gas. This morning I was listning to the radio and callers were talking about where to find cheap gas. Some dude was calling in, complaining about the high prices of gas. What did he drive?

A BMW.

Cry me a river.

So he didin't have a problem paying a few extra bucks for his fatty monthly premium car payment, but he's bitching about paying more for gas?

Anyway...

What else. I forgot to mention about what happened last weekend at the graduation party. With the big milestone birthday coming up later on this year, I'm going to take the experience as a positive thing :)

Gotta make the best of it, right?

So i'm sitting at the table eating my dinner with the adults right? (not intermingling with the high school graduates cause I don't want to be the creepy guy) This lady (who reminded me a little of Sarah McLachlan) strikes up a conversation with me and asks if I've graduated (from high school) yet.

Huh.

(shrug)

-Kirk

Return to innocence.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well on this last day of the weekend.

(have I used this title before?)

This evening, the our neighbor's daughter had her high school graduation party. We kind of indirectly helped because they're using a bunch of our tables, chairs, and cookware.

That's what neighbors are for, right?

The whole gathering made me reminisce back to that summer of my senior year (12 years ago!)...

That was a great summer. It was the last summer we'd all be together still under our parent's rule. Before the "independence" we'd have in college. (I say "independence" because it was relative - It sure as hell wasn't financial) We were all pretty excited and full of hope for the schoolyear to come.

Ahh, the good old days.

I don't think I could go back to high school. But college? Definitely.

What else is going on...

This week I learned that telcos actually do tell the truth sometimes. and "testing remotely" actually does work. My DSL modem was actually bad.

Who knew?

What else...

Natasha Bedingfield's (yes, her brother is Daniel of Gotta get Thru This fame) new track These Words is quite the catchy tune. And you know what? The video is fun / cute too. Guess where you can see it?

-Kirk

Hooked.

This whole evening I've been playing with the broadband channels of MTV and VH1.

And yes! They play videos.

Check these out:

• MTV Overdrive
• VH1 VSpot

Trying something new.

Hi all,

Hope you're having a good weekend.

Today I gained a whole new appreciation for those in law enforcement. G took me to the range and we shot handguns. It's all part of me trying new stuff. This was definitely new.

It's definitely not as easy as it looks in the movies.

Oh yeah, it's much louder too. I definitely got the full experience. From the initial safety education all the way to cleaning. It was interesting to learn about everything.

I actually did allright. I was afriad I'd shoot a bunch of rounds and completey miss the targets.

But don't worry I won't quit my day job.

-Kirk

Ooooh. Music videos.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

I'm sure you can guess that I long for the days of music videos on TV (since I always write about it when I see them). Well today, the music video powers that be smiled and I caught the last half of the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown.

It's cool to know that artists are still making music videos. But I don't get where they're being shown. It can't be worth it to create a music video for just a few hours of airplay per week on countdown shows, is it? Obviously I need to find out where these music video venues are...

I think I was in a crusty mood today. Of the videos I saw, I was not really that impressed:

• Coldplay, Speed of sound - What is up with the low cost video? The 80s called, and they want their video back. Doing the extra camera clockwise / counterclockwise rotation does not make it more cool.
• Lifehouse, You and me - Who came up with this idea? It's the basis of many a love story. Girl leaves guy. Girl goes to train station. Guy goes looking for girl but keeps missing her. Guy thinks he's found her, but it's actually some other girl. Guy keeps on looking and finds girl on train platform. Words are exchanged (kisses too). Train leaves station without girl. The end. (bleh)
• Mariah Carey, Shake it off - Only caught parts of this one, but it looks like it has all the same elements as all of her other videos. Satin, wind, and lots of prancing.

Man, I'm crusty.

-Kirk

Ice cream man.

Hi all,

hope you're doing well on this warm evening.

The ice cream man has an interesting job. He's loved by kids. He's hated by adults that he annoys with that freakin song that he plays over and over.

This guy's music had a very lame hand clap.

-Kirk

Carpet or monkey?

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

I was waiting for someone to call me for a meeting that was in the other building. I had a previous meeting that had ended late, and I was hoping I could dial in to the next one (instead of walking over and being 20 minutes late.

B was talking to me about work stuff and I was telling him that I needed a magic carpet to fly over to the other building. Then I got to thinking...

(brace yourself)

Would you rather have a flying carpet or a flying monkey?

I saw some major earning potential with both. But of all the people polled (well, not officially, they just overheard my line of questioning) they chose the carpet.

Less maintenance.

Honestly though. How does one control a flying carpet? With all the concerns about safety nowadays, wouldn't a flying carpet be rather dangerous?

I never did get that call.

-Kirk

Boil over blues.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well on this nice cool evening.

Is it just me, or does Kraft Easy Mac boil over in your microwave too? It's kind of a bummer. I even use one of those oversized coffee house mugs too.

I love Easy Mac. All you need is 2/3 cup water and 3.5 minutes. Stir in the cheese and you're good to go. If only gourmet food was this fast...

Imagine doing something like that with prime rib. Or lobster.

Huh.

-Kirk

McDonalds grows up. And asks for more money.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

It's totally cooled down - Almost to the point where it's cold out this evening.

Perfect sleepytime weather.

So anyway, today for lunch we went to McDonald's - mainly to get our mango and raspberry shakes. Which were really kickass, by the way. Definitely worth the trip :)

I didn't want to get the crazy fat and calorie laden Big Mac - I ended up going with one of their "premium" chicken sandwiches (I think it was the ranch BLT or something). Apparently, sticking the "premium" label on anything makes it more toity...

Kind of like the use of Super Deluxe in the homeland.

Anyway, so I got the premium chicken sandwich value meal, with a shake substitution. You know how much it was? Over 7 bucks!

(flashback)

I remember the days of high school when I could get a Big Mac value meal for $3.11. Back in the day when sales tax was only 4% in Michigan.

(sigh)

Anyway, 7 bucks for food is a little steep - That's dangerously close to traditional sit down restaurant style price range, isn't it?

So where do high school kids go for lunch nowadays?

-Kirk

Travelin' man.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening.

Today we were talking at work that the traditional organ has been noticeably absent from modern music.

Seriously - Back in the 60s you couldn't listen to a song that didn't have an organ jamming in the background during a instrumental portion of the song. For instance, in that song by the Zombies, Time of the Season there is some great organ playing in the last 2/3 of the song.

Come on, you know the song:
What's your name?
Who's your daddy?
Is he rich like me?

(sing it with me now!)

Anyway, so yeah, I think we should bring back the organ. And not just in ballparks either.

I remember playing an organ at my piano teacher's house. I remember the multi level keyboard, the big colorful levers and switches, and the foot pedals. Good times.

And then, what ever happened to the calliope?

Anyway... what else...

At the end of the month, I'm going to Washington D.C. to visit my grad school buddy and his wife. I'm slowly filling up the travelling quota for the year. Major props to Spirit Airlines for offering to get me there for less than 100 bucks!

-Kirk

Side effects.

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well.

I was watching TV this evening and saw a (one of many) drug commercial. (no, not for "performance" drugs this time, thankfully). Anyway, in the whole sped through list of side effects, I heard "constipation and diarrhea."

Isn't it usually one or the other?

Ahh, the mysteries of pharmaceuticals.

-Kirk

NY in the fall...

Hi all,

Hope you're doing well this evening. Just a quick note.

Well, it's official. I'm going to be visitng New York in September.

I can't wait. :)

-Kirk