Early at the airport...earlier home

The airline industry tried to make up for the millions of hours I've wasted being delayed at airports.

I ended up getting done with things a bit earlier than I expected. I did some last minute fun things in the city and decided to head out for the airport in case of traffic.

I took a taxi to the airport, which cost about $30 including the tolls. There was no traffic either, so I was at the airport about two hours earlier than when I was planning to be.

The guy at the counter asked if I wanted to take the earlier flight, which I was all for. I cashed in some of my frequent flyer credits for a free upgrade, too!

I'll be back in Atlanta two hours before I was originally planning. Given that my flights have been delayed for days before...hey, this is a start.

Tuscan Square for Lunch

I joined my cousins again for lunch, and I invited along the instructor from Apple. He recommended a place close to Rockefeller Center called Tuscan Square.

The setting was very proper. Most of the other lunch eaters were probably on business lunches, which I wasn't really in the mood for because it was my last lunch with my friends in NYC. We tend to get loud, but we really had to keep it pretty quiet.

The menu looked very good and the presentation of the meal was equally impressive. The restaurant was really good. Our waiter was reallyfunny. He realized that we weren't really in the mood for a formal business lunch so he was joking with us and keeping it a light mood. Expensive place though. I had a decent lunch and a salad and it cost almost $45.

Gray's Papaya

This juice joint is great. I'm not sure if there are others around town, because this joint is definitely a franchise-potential idea.

They mainly sell hot dogs...for less than a dollar...and are open 24 hours a day. But I went there for the different drinks. They have a really tasty banana daquiri drink. They also have a few others including pina coladas, papaya juices, etc. All non-alcoholic. It's worth giving it a try if you're in NYC.

Training: Citigroup Building

The next couple of days I'll be going to the Citigroup building on 53rd for training.

I'm the only student in the class. My instructor actually works with Apple in Austin, Texas. I'm sure he's happy to fly up to New York simply to teach a class for a couple of days with one person in it.

The title of the class is "MacOS 330: Directory Services Integration and Administration". I signed up for the client-side class, but because I'm the only student and we can move fairly fast, we plan on covering the server material as well. So, my place of employment is definitely getting its money's worth.

It looks as though we will cover some really useful topics with managing a stable of Macintosh computers in a Windows domain. I don't think full integration is possible to the level that I would like. Perhaps the best solution is to setup an OS X Server and manage computers that way.

Indeed. Indeed.

Staying at the Waldorf is a pretty funny experience. The entire atmosphere is old money, and most people that you see in the hotel are either really old money (which can be interesting) or fake "old money" (which leads to interesting conversations). Not exactly a fun place, but it's a neat experience nonetheless.

Today I got onto the elevator on the first floor, and "Ground" was already pushed. About four people were on the elevator already. I pushed my floor, 11, and the elevator went up instead of down as one would expect.

One of the ladies chimed in with her favorite foreign accent, "Well, these elevators have a mind of their own. They make so many mistakes!" After this a gentleman remarked, "Well, our reliance on computers can only lead to such."

I followed up in my favorite uppity accent, "As a computer engineer, I must offer that it is not the elevator making the mistake, but the programmer who designed this elevator. Computers, after all, have no mind of their own."

A guy in the corner, wanting a piece of the action, turns up the base in his voice and goes, "Indeed. Indeed."

Well, it was the 11th floor, so I got off and couldn't help but laugh. There ended the first conversation I've ever had that ends in someone saying "Indeed. Indeed."

Dinner at Chipotle

My cousins stayed behind a little longer and one of my Auburn friends joined us for dinner today. We went to Chipotle just because it is quick and easy.

While leaving the Waldorf, we ran into Ben Stiller's dad. It was kind of surreal seeing "George Costanza's" dad walking into my hotel. We said hi and asked him how Ben was doing. He told us he was fine and asked us if we were "here for the event." Us? Here for "The Event"? Yeah, right. We weren't able to think quick enough to say yes.

Central Park

Hung out in Central Park all afternoon after lunch. Everyone had to get back to work and I had the day off, so I decided to stroll around.

The southern part of Central Park is about as north as I would go in the City. I walked up past Trump Plaza and Tiffany's. The pricey side of town looks pretty pricey. There were several signs up for new condos and housing, and the pictures and plans looked awesome.

Central Park has good places to buy souvenirs. I'd recommend buying the I :heart: NY shirts and things like that here. The weather was absolutely magnificent to be on a walk around as well. I took my crossword puzzle with me and just chilled out. Central Park was really nice and it was nice to see so many people just jogging around doing their thing. I wouldn't really recommend going there alone because it's pretty big. It's probably safer to be with friends in such a setting just because there are so many strangers that seem to be killing time there.

99-cent Pizza

I joined three of my cousins and we went to eat lunch together. It was a really awesome feeling to walk down the street with my cousins to lunch. The four of us went to a sandwich and pizza place. I got a small pastrami sandwich and a 99-cent slice of pizza. The pizza was really good. The same slice of pizza I paid 99-cents for is about $3 in Auburn.

For drinks we went to Gray's Papaya. They have really good banana daquiri.

The weather was really nice. It was actually hot walking around at lunch. Afterward I sat at the ice skating area at Rockefellar Plaza and went to Central Park.

Waldorf=Astoria

So the second part of my training is in midtown -- at the Citigroup building on 53rd to be exact. My second hotel is the infamous Waldorf=Astoria on Park Avenue.

The general appeal of W=A is the service and the old-money feel to the place. Having just checked in earlier today, I can see both good and bad things. The lobby has a very upscale feel to it. But to be honest, the room isn't really worth it.

I'm loving it right now because of the significance W=A has played in history. Did you know that when FDR came to NYC, he would stay at the Waldorf? His train had a secret station in the basement of the Waldorf.

The lobby is designed with the same historical flair in mind. I've seen better hotel lobbies. Grand Hyatts, Westins and many Ritz Carlton's have much better designed lobbies. The room is pretty average. Same look and feel as any other decent hotel. So the average room at W=A is the same as an average room at any other hotel. However, I'm sure the Astoria level is where the hotel earns its reputation from. That's where the pricey suites and service really is.

Discovery of the Day: The Hotel's Basement

I'm staying at the SoLita SoHo Hotel, as I mentioned earlier. I came inside after my walk around Little Italy and Chinatown because it was so cold. Tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy was sad, so I almost felt like not going out...then I remembered I'm in the city so I decided to go exploring.

Going exploring in the city pays off. Going exploring to the side of your hotel pays off even more! I walked through two random doors and walked into one of the most fun hookah bars in SoHo. I walked in through the side entrance, so I'll have to check the name of the place in the morning.

The servers were dressed like Princess Jasmine...whew. I tried a couple of flavors of hookah and was really impressed. The walls of the area were painted in Egyptian hieroglyphics. It wasn't wallpaper or posters as it is normally. This was really painted by hand and it looked amazing. There were comfortable couches and the whole nine yards. The atmosphere was really well designed.

A place like that could make some serious money in Auburn.

There goes my bracket

WTF? I know my cousins who graduated from UConn and Villanova are pretty sad right now. I can't believe UConn got beat by George Mason. The Florida and Villanova game was supposed to be pretty close, so seeing Villanova get manhandled was tough.

I had Villanova winning in two of my brackets, and UConn winning the other. I had not picked any of the current teams to be this far, so that sucks.

On a different note, it is refreshing for the sport to have four teams in the Final Four who didn't start off being number one seeds.

Novella and the social aspect of dinner

Tonight's dinner was at Novella Restaurant. It's on the corner of Grand Street and Mulberry, basically on the border of Little Italy and Chinatown.

The food was really amazing, and the service was really good, too. A lot of the restaurants have a person that stands at the door and shows people menus as they walk by--basically like a salesman on the street. Pretty funny...I would think that this means that the restaurant is really hungry for business (hehe...get it..."hungry" for business...jeez, sorry.)

So I was walking by and an older Italian guy handed me a menu which looked pretty good. I walked in and realized that this was a really nice restaurant. I had fettucini with saffron sauce and grilled chicken. The restaurant was a little pricier than I would've thought looking at it from the outside. The main meal was nearly twenty dollars. I'm scared to say how much the total came out to be.

The service was great. My server, Flamore, was constantly checking, as was the manager. I was eating by myself which, despite doing it for almost every dinner this week, was pretty boring.

I realized that dinner for me is far more for the social interaction than it is for nutrition.

It's Freezing in Little Italy!

It rained a good bit last night and today is insanely cold! I went outside with a jacket and the wind seriously about froze my nose off.

Instead of walking west from my hotel, today I decided to walk east. My hotel is a block north of Chinatown, and one block west of Little Italy. I walked around Little Italy to see what it is like. It's really cool to see so much diversity in the city. You can walk around and see literally hundreds of different nationalities.

There are lots of Italian restaurants in Little Italy...surprising, I know. But if you like or love Italian food like I do, instead of Little Italy, I think you can actually call it Little Heaven.

Movie: The Inside Man

It started raining early evening and the temperature dropped very quickly. A few of my cousins and I decided to catch a movie and we ended up seeing The Inside Man. The movie was really cool. I enjoyed the well-written screenplay. The movie cost $7.50 with a student discount. Thank goodness for my student ID! I think I've used it for discounts more after graduating for sure.

It was definitely a Spike Lee movie with the randomly thrown in messages to society. There's a kid playing a PSP and the game he is playing eerily resembles Grand Theft Auto. There's also a severe case of a Sikh having his civil rights violated by the NYPD because he's mistaken to be Arab. The movie was set in NYC and it was superbly cool to see all these places that I've been walking past in the movie. Eerily, one of the random scenes of the city showed a restaurant that I ate at earlier in the week.

Don't read any further if you don't want to spoil the movie.

The interesting message in the movie was about how during World War II, many Jews were sold out by their own people. In this particular case, a Jewish man sold out other Jews to get rich and he ended up using the money to start a bank in NYC. Although I haven't read any proof, there's also a general feeling in the city that many of the banks and investment houses that were started by Jews were started under similar circumstances. Interesting view, and if it's true, it's really sad.

Of course low morals, violence and crime is horrible in society. But when the perpetrators end up harming their own people, and the victims are their own...it makes it so much worse I think.

Lower Manhattan and the mystery of Duane Reade

I visited lower Manhattan today. Besides walking around the financial district and the Battery Park area, I saw City Hall and the court buildings located close to the Brooklyn Bridge.

I don't know if something serious was going on though because a huge area of the buildings was roped off and there was almost no traffic in the area, which seems almost unimagineable.

I'm utterly astounded by the prevalence of Duane Reade drugstores in the city. There's a Duane Reade Pharmacy on almost every block. On top of that, there are two streets downtown that are named Duane and Reade. I was so intrigued that I decided to go inside one of the stores today. Lets just say that the floor layout was completely bizarre.

So I decided to search out what is going on. New York Magazine wrote an interesting article published June 6, 2005 on The Mystery of Duane Reade. It's an interesting read and explained a lot about the puzzling number and layout of Duane Reade stores.

Ground Zero

Even though it's been almost five and a half years since the 9/11 attacks, the location of Ground Zero is still very emotional. Just knowing that so many lives were lost at that single location is very hard to imagine and understand.

The entire area is fenced off still, and all that remains is a huge crater from where the many sub-levels of the WTC towers once were.

I remember seeing the display of lights a few years back and that was really powerful. I think the biggest thing that has to happen is rebuilding just so the 13-acre site is once again part of the NY skyline.

Financial District

I walked around the financial district. The construction of the buildings is absolutely amazing. Just the look of them gives you the feeling of might and power. I saw the NYSE and the AMEX...cool to see where some of my money goes :)

The amazing thing was also the sea of people. If you think of the building as an ant hill, as soon as something happens to it and ants just crawl all over the place. There is such a mass exodus, and trying to walk towards the building as people are leaving is almost insane. You really get an idea into how salmon feel when they are swimming upstream.

"Be Careful"

I don't know what's up, but I've been told, "be careful" or "take care of yourself" by a million people ever since I've been here. Today it was the lady at Starbucks. I've heard it from one of the other trainees, from the server at Landmark Breakfast, from the hotel concierge, and others... So I asked the lady at Starbucks why it might be that everyone is saying that to me over the last few days.

"You're really friendly," she said. "You asked me how my day was going and actually listened to my answer. People in the city might take advantage of that." Hmm. I don't really think I should change.

The weather was getting a bit chilly but it was still pretty nice so I sat outside.

Training Day Three

Today's training was primarily break-fix. A Mac with several problems was given to five two-person teams and we had to fix several problems.

Problems included passwords that did not work, printers and network connections that didn't work, login problems, restart and shutdown problems and a few other things.

My partner, Abraham, and I were the first ones finished. We got done by about 2:30 p.m. and stuck around to help the other teams.

The training was really rewarding. I really feel I learned a lot, and I definitely feel I got my money's worth.

We ordered in pizza for everyone because we felt a working lunch would be good. It's more real-life anyway...ha.

NYC: Cafe Cafe

I ate a quick breakfast this morning from Cafe Cafe. The cafe is a neat little place located on Greene Street a few doors down from where the training is. It's got a funky second level in the main area carved out from the high ceiling.

Their house blend was really good even though I'm not a big coffee drinker. I had an English muffin...whatever that is. Tasted decent enough.

I took a little different way to the training facility. I walked down Mercer and over on Groome and noticed some neat little boutiques that I'm sure my wife would've loved and my wallet would've hated.

ESPNZone at Times Square

Tonight I met up with one of my cousins who works in the city. We met up at the ESPNZone to watch the LSU vs. Duke game. We got there about 6:30 p.m. and the place was packed.

ESPNZone at Times Square is huge. There are levels to the restaurant that all look out to three 15-foot projection screens and are surrounded by additional televisions. On top of that, there is a television at each booth/table.

I know the New York experience is about trying different food. True, ESPNZone doesn't really qualify because there's one in every major city, but the experience was definitely worth it. The crowd was fun and we met some random people.

There were a lot of Duke fans in the crowd, so naturally I decided to cheer for LSU, as much as I dislike them. I was kind of getting annoyed by this dude at the bar who was a constant clapper--you know the ones. They do that annoying fast clap at everything. Rebound? Clap. Foul? Clap. Commercial? Clap. Stop it already dude.

So, in the last minute or so even though I couldn't care less about LSU beating Duke (I had Duke losing in Round 2) the good part about the outcome was it stopped the annoying clapper.

I did a walk around the city after dinner. I walked over from the square to 7th and down to 53rd to meet up with a cousin who was there for dinner with his in-laws. It was great to walk around and see even though the city is so built-up, there is still lots of construction going on everywhere. It keeps the city agile and changing, so NY of today is not the same as NY of yesterday, and the NY of tomorrow will be different, too. Very exciting.

NYC Lunch: Tennessee Mountain

Today, Eric, one of the students in the class along with me, suggested going to Tennessee Mountain for lunch. SoHo has the most amazing restaurants.

Tennessee Mountain is located on the corner of Wooster and Spring. It is reputed to be (and they claim it as well) the best ribs. I must say, the barbecue sauce was beyond belief amazing.

It was a very random lunch. First, there was a little roach on the wall that came in through the window. As gross as that is, it's not reason enough to leave a place in the city...because you might as well not go anywhere to eat.

The food was great. I had their ribs and chicken special. I didn't care much for the sides they offered, but the main food was well worth it. The environment was also interesting. They had a poster or two up from the Grand Ole Opry, and tried to give it somewhat of a "Tennessee" look. My entire meal cost $25, which is reasonable given the meal and the experience.

Training Day Two

I really enjoyed today's training. We focused on the back-end of Macintosh OS X. The primary thing I enjoyed was discovering how much more you can do on a Mac simply because OS X is built on the Unix platform. This opens up a world of possibilities using the command line interface.

It really is phenomenal how secure and reliable the new OS X is. Many government agencies are switching to Apple simply because of the security.

Apple training is a lot different than any other training I've been in. The other official training I've been to has been pretty bland, but Apple training is very well laid out and the hands-on exercises are applicable to real-life situations.

NYC: Breakfast at Miro

Okay, so sit down breakfasts are great and all, but who's got that kind of time? I'm not a big breakfast eater anyway. I usually grab a cup of tea or coffee and a piece of toast or something. I know there's that whole bit about breakfast being the most important meal of the day...but I disagree. I think the most important meal should be when you're actually awake enough to taste it.

Besides, waking up at 7 a.m. eastern is like waking up at 6 a.m. back home time.

So today I stopped in at Miro Cafe for breakfast. It's a classy looking place on Broadway. At first my simple order of a Vanilla Chai and a bagel with strawberry jelly (I don't know what it is about strawberry jelly...I just like it) was met with a pissy mood on the other side of the counter. But I guess my southern charm...and a tip...did some kind of magic and the server got really happy and actually had a smile as I was leaving.

If your job consists of serving breakfast, people that come in are already annoyed enough with having to be awake so early. The last thing they should have to deal with is someone who is equally ticked about being at work.

A Walk with Windy and Dusty

Wow...the wind just comes and hits you in the face as you're walking down the street as if it's got some kinda vendetta against you.

I wore a white shirt today and I could swear it's brown now. Some serious pollution effects I guess. More work for the dry cleaners down south.

Aside from that, I love just walking around the city. It's the best exercise plan I've found yet.

I think everyone walking down the streets of New York tries to do their best impression of looking like they are natives. Everyone does a pretty good job, too, until they see that one random thing that they really want a picture of. Then they enter tourist-zone and bust out the camera.

I think I'm doing a pretty good job faking it though. I've walked about a day and already two people have asked me directions. I was walking down Broadway around the intersection with Broome and someone asked me "Where's Grand?" I was like "down thadda way..." Damn, for a second I felt like I've been living here forever. Later someone asked me where Canal was. I kinda knew but didn't want to say the wrong thing, so I did what other city natives walking down the street do: ignored the person. I bet he thought "damn cityfolk, can't even take a second to help." Ha.

NYC: The Laugh Factory

The friendly girl at the "I heart NY" tourism booth at Grand Central suggested that I should check out The Laugh Factory, a comedy club.

Excellent idea. The Laugh Factory is located a quick walk from Grand Central, through Times Square, on 8th and 42nd. It cost $20 for tickets and there is a two-drink minimum (non-alcoholic drinks count). The total cost was about $40.

The comedians were awesome. They usually put the acts in order of experience. The host this evening was filling in for the regular host. I must say I was more impressed than I thought I would be. The comics were genuinely funny except for a bit here and there...but hey, this is where they get on stage to try their material.

The entire club was packed. I was surprised with the number of local people from the Bronx and other surrounding areas. I'm judging this with the crowd reaction to the straw poll all comedians conduct when they start... "I'm from the Bronx"...followed by roars and applause...generally means big turnout.

It kinda sucked cuz I ended up going by myself. I wish a friend or two would've made the trip with me. Me being myself though, I introduced myself to a few people sitting next to me. They were born and raised New Yorkers. All three were shocked to hear that I was from the Atlanta area. "You really look like a born-and-raised New York Hispanic!" was what I heard in between the gasps.

I'm going to try to look up the names of the comedians that were on tonight.

By the way, did you notice the picture above? The Laughter Factory is world famous as well. I guess the message is becoming clearer and clearer...wanna get famous or possibly world famous? New York is the place to be.

NYC: Grand Central and Dinner

I headed to Grand Central to meet up with a cousin and have dinner. He had to catch a train out of the city, so we went around the Grand Central shops and found Juniors. Juniors had a great sandwich and is...you guessed it...world famous for its cheesecake. So I grabbed a strawberry cheesecake. I figure with as much walking I've done today, it's probably going to melt right off of me.

Just by virtue of being in Grand Central Station, everything is about four times more expensive than the outside world. As evidenced by the fact that a burger, fries, water and a slice of cheesecake cost $20.00. The server was really nice but seemed like he was having a bad day...so I tipped him and I think he almost cracked a smile.

MetroCard: I've got a ticket to ride

I've got a ticket to ride, and I don't caaaaareeee.

I got myself a 7-day unlimited MetroCard. This is definitely the way to travel. It cost $24 and now I can ride on any MTA subway, train or bus for seven days.

Apple Training: NovaWorks

I was thoroughly impressed with the professionalism and training expertise I witnessed today. I'm taking the MacOS 10.4 Support Essentials course. The course is being offered by Apple through NovaWorks in New York City. It's a three-day session.

Our instructor is the very capable Shelley Weiner. She is the president of Business Rules, Inc. She's an Apple certified instructor. The course layout and content so far has been very good.

When I first walked in, I saw a projector turned to slide number one of a slide show. I was getting ready for a huge disappointment because I think slide shows are the crappiest way to teach. But I was really amazed with how Shelley bounced around and demonstrated the actual content instead of just reading the slides as many instructors end up doing.

The course comes with a book and a workbook as well. Several very good exercises are included. Although I am familiar with Macintosh OS X, I was not bored sitting in the class because I learned some really neat tips and tricks.

Since we have recently invested quite a bit of money in MacBook Pros, this training is really timely. It's giving me some good ideas on how to approach the setup on the new laptops.

NYC: Lunch

Lunch today was at a SoHo restaurant: Kelley and Ping on Greene Street. It was a really good Thai place. There were so many excellent choices that I really couldn't decide what to get. I went with some excellent chicken and pad thai noodles. The price for lunch made up for the low-cost breakfast. A not-too-bad serving of noodles with a water was $14.00.

I'm glad I know how to use chopsticks! Except for two people in the entire packed restaurant, everyone was cultured enough to be using chopsticks. This is clearly a difference from the south where people are cultured enough to eat Americanized Chinese or Thai food, but you don't see a lot of people even trying to use chopsticks.

kate spade Stickers?

A friend of mine back in Auburn asked me to get a Kate Spade sticker that she could re-affix to her "Kate Spade" purse.

I saw the Kate Spade store on my way to the training facility. I would've asked for stickers but they were closed.

SoHo is really amazing. There are tons of shops...scratch that...tons of high-end shops here. Someone with a spending problem could really go crazy in this area.

Ariba Ariba

I knew there was a reason I've been walking fast all my life. Today as I merged onto Broadway foot traffic, I had to really get those legs moving to get with the crowd.

It really was a fun amazing thing to do. The training facility for NovaWorks is about 4 blocks away from my hotel. It was a good brisk walk. I don't think I realized it was cold because of the adrenaline pumping through my body.

NYC: Breakfast

I had breakfast this morning in a pretty neat little restaurant called Landmark Coffee Shop & Pancake House. It's right across the street from my hotel.

It's what I think of when I think "New York City" and "breakfast." They claim to be "famous"...but around here everyone and everything does (sometimes "World Famous" if you're lucky).

It was surprisingly inexpensive, too. I got two eggs, toast, coffee and funny looking hash browns for $3.50. A fiver with tip. My second meal in the city and I paid about as much for breakfast as I do for jukebox tunes at Waffle House.

The haste of NYC does have one identifiable victim: strawberry jelly. I asked for strawberry jelly and the waitress was nice enough to grab me some concorde grape. "We're too busy to start giving customers too much choice," she said.

Indeed. Nothing wrong with grape jelly I suppose. Better than mixed fruit.

NYC: Hotel

My first hotel is the Solita SoHo Hotel on Grand Street. It's a Clarion hotel that was renovated/started in August 2004.

It's a clean and nice hotel. A friend told me that if my room was an apartment I would be paying about $1800 a month in rent. Well, I'm paying almost that much for six nights if you include tax.

NYC: Welcome!

Flight landed smoothly at LaGuardia and on time. I must say, LaGuardia is definitely much cleaner and nicer than what I remember from my last visit.

My cousins picked me up and our first activity, after taking the long way to NYC through Harlem, was to grab a lamb gyro from Cart's.

Cart's, for those of you who don't know...is just that. It's a cart that sells gyros. I'm not talking Insomnia-Deli-wrapped-in-pita gyros. I'm talking an aluminum tin full of rice, lamb and salad topped with an amazing white sauce. Served by some really nice guys.

They are...you guessed it..."world famous."

Verizon Wireless Tech and Data Support

I've been using a Verizon Wireless phone through work for about 15 months now. For some reason I keep having random problems.

They've had to send me three replacement units for my XV6600 over the past 15 months from various problems.

Everytime I have to go through the process, I consistently get amazing service from calling their data and technical support line.

Except for this time. They sent me two units as replacements. I sent one back with the defective one and proceeded to activate the new one they had sent. The problem is they sent me a unit that has an ESN that is already showing up as active. After great hassle over about a day, Tony at Verizon Tech Support was able to get my voice activated. This regardless of the fact that I cannot do the initial programming on the phone.

Then I called again the next day because data wasn't working and I was showing up as roaming. So Tech Support once again worked some magic and I wasn't showing up as roaming anymore. Although I did get a shady excuse blaming Price Communications, who owns the tower Verizon leases/bums off of in my area.

After data still wouldn't activate and I still wasn't able to get the latest PRL file, on Monday Richard at Verizon Tech Support promises to send me a replacement for my replacement. This time presumably the ESN won't already be active on another account.

I inform Richard how I am leaving for NYC the next day, so I am promised 10:30 a.m. FedEx delivery.

It's 4:12 p.m. and I'm about to leave for the airport. Natalia at Verizon Tech/Data Support has just called me and said my unit hasn't shipped yet so she will ship it to my hotel in NYC and then I can just go to a local Verizon Store and have them resynchronize my data and have everything working.

Update: Natalia called and left a message that before she was able to re-route the delivery to my hotel, the original unit shipped to the work address. I guess I'll be without data for the NYC trip...which royally sucks because I need to be able to keep in touch with work while I'm away.

It's disappointing that although having data on my phone on an everyday basis is vital, the one time it was critical for me to have it because of travel, Verizon wasn't able to pull through for me.

I must say though, aside from the "powers that be" in the shipping and handling world, I still remain impressed with Verizon's Data Support and Tech Support line.

Brrr...

I'm leaving for NY on Tuesday evening. I'll arrive into the City late.

I was just checking out the forecast for NYC over the next eight days. One thought comes to mind: Brrrr.

Alabama "Power"

When I was traveling in a third world country, the power was somewhat a luxury. It was usually there, but randomly the power would turn off for hours at a time and you'd have almost no choice but to melt in the heat.

We used to joke about how at least that problem doesn't exist here. But over the last year or so I've been pretty surprised by the undependable power we get. Now it seems like whenever there is a storm with thunder and lightening, it's almost a certainty that we're going to lose power. I mean, it rained tonight and we made it through most of the storm until randomly we just lost power for about 40 minutes.

I know there are occasional times when things like a dead snake get caught in the distribution center (happend once...) but could the power at least make it through rain?

May be because of the monopoly, there just isn't enough of a push to upgrade the aging grid.

Madness Two

CBS was showing Bradley University play the University of Pittsburgh in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Naturally, the scoreboard was an interesting sight: Brad vs. Pitt.

I think they planned that.

Tiger Nights: Student Feud

Tiger Nights as a whole was very small this time compared to the past. There was very little participation. Not really sure why, either. In the fall the entire ballroom had a casino going, and there were tons of people in there.

I'm not complaining though. This time around they had a game show, "Student Feud" on the ballroom stage. I don't think many people heard about it because there were only about fifteen people in the audience.

I joined in on the fun and was shocked that in addition to having the satisfaction of winning, my team was awarded $30. That's right: $10 for each member. I felt this was a little crazy...and I guess the laws of nature caught up because they ran out of money in about 45 minutes and were closed before I could get back up on stage!

Shop-a-holic

I tend to buy a lot of crap. I spend too much money. Lately I've been trying to control the problem and I thought I was doing well.

Until I got to work today and instead of swiping my ID card, I caught myself swiping my debit card.

Madness One

Two out of three of my brackets have Villanova winning. The other one has Duke.

I really hope 'Nova wins though...I guess mainly for the sake of my cousins who go/went there.

My only tie to Duke is that TIP program back in 7th grade. I didn't get any scholarship money out of that...so I guess the blood ties win out on this one.

Construction

Construction is great, especially on campus, because that means that hopefully things will look better and campus will be nicer in the future.

But sometimes it sucks when you start getting caught behind this everday to work. This picture continues my newfound hobby of taking pictures while driving.

Source of happiness and confidence

Way too many people allow their surroundings to dictate their happiness and confidence. If you are reading this blog, chances are you have access to the Internet on a computer...which means you are probably better off than about 99% of the people on earth. But it is too easy to forget about those blessings and let one or two things consume our lives.

I'm a go-with-the-flow kind of person. I don't rely on others or outside forces to make me happy. My happiness comes from within and I generally make myself laugh about 48 times a day.

But too many of us, and I find this most often in girls/women, need to find confidence by comparing oursleves to others to feel better. Too often though, if we compare ourselves to feel better, we end up comparing ourselves with those who may be inferior at something. On the other hand, sometimes we end up comparing ourselves with those who are much better at something, and we feel down about it.

So that's why confidence and happiness should come from within. Being thankful and noticing the blessings we have is a great way to start.

I'm almost a vegetarian

All major news outlets reported earlier this week that a cow in Alabama has been diagnosed with the mad cow disease.

"Officials" have been busy saying how the diseased cow won't have any affect on humans or animals. But this is a good reason for me to give up eating beef for a little while.

I've been meaning to really get more in control of my diet lately and this is a good reminder. In fact, in the lobby of the building where I work they had a Natural and Health Food Fair where they had all sorts of natural foods that they were giving away. Beef and other red meat isn't that healthy anyway.

All signs point to me giving this no-beef thing a try. I like seafood but I don't eat it that often anyway. I love chicken and so that'll be hard to give up... baby steps though. So, no steak and no beef for a little while for me.

Talking during movies

I think I tested the nerves of about 10 people earlier tonight!

Wow, I am usually pretty careful not to talk during movies, but earlier I watched an Indian movie for the first time in months and I couldn't shut up.

There were so many reasons to talk that I was having a hard time. Once the actual plot thickened I did the pillow-on-mouth trick and didn't talk for considerable lengths of time, but I must say, all in all, even I would've pissed myself off if I was watching the movie with me. Damn.

The movie was so fantastically terrible. The girls couldn't decide if the guy looked good or not, and the guys had no problem deciding that the girl could've definitely looked better. Character development was non-existent aside from cheesy monologues about "my life is so bad because..." followed by a ten minute narrative. This doesn't even mention the continuing problem in movies of people somehow fighting better after they are shot or have significant wounds in vital-organ areas. Why is it that adrenaline only affects the good guys?

I must say, though, that at least the movie tried to tackle the important issue of sex slaves and pornography. I mean, that's much better than the typical guy meets girl, guy can't marry girl because of family, couple rises above odds (including a well-placed fight sequence in which guy beats up ten bad guys with no help) and lives happily ever after.

I must say, though, I kinda enjoyed watching the movie. I'm going to blame the excessive talking on dessert. Hopefully I didn't piss other people off so bad that they won't ask me to watch a movie again!

Learning from loss

My dad lost two distant uncles this past week. He was related to both of them from his dad's side.

Since I was very young when we moved to the States, I'm not too good with remembering distant relatives. Sadly, my parents have also grown apart from most of our distant relatives that still remain overseas. For my parents, hearing the news of someone passing is an emotional moment. Endless promises of "see you soon, God-willing" come rushing to the forefront, as do memories from their younger years when life was perhaps simpler and they remained in contact with even the farthest corners of our family.

For my siblings and I, hearing the same news is often puzzling. "I think I knew him...was he the one with the rabbits? Or the really tall one? Or the one who wrote all those books?" My mom then goes through an endless lineage of how I'm actually related to the person.

Out of these sad yet inevitable events comes one of my favorite family traditions. If we hear of someone's passing, no matter how distant they may be, that evening we take a moment...usually thirty minutes or so, and Mom and Dad tell stories of highlights from the deceased's life and pray for them. We learn of how the extended families were exposed to someone's desire for making a movie, or publishing books...or maybe how someone was taken as a prisoner of war for eight years. For thirty minutes, I feel as though I grew up with the person. I get a glimpse into the life of hardship yet simplicity that a distant relative grew up in. They may no longer be alive, but at least a part of their story lives on.

All families have these stories. Your dad's distant cousin's father...how he may have tried his entrepreneurial knack at so many different things. All these stories are so vital to a family, yet hardly any family takes the time to write them down. I suggested this to my mom tonight. I think she should make this her project. She was so close with so many of our distant relatives. It would be fascinating to read about how each of them was unique and important. I doubt she'll do it...I don't think she really realizes the value of it. And so time will continue and generations will pass...and someday a distant cousin of mine will have his son tell a story of a guy named Uncle Asim...I hope I leave a story worth telling.

The importance of savings

From a flyer handed out by the World Financial Group:

Your savings, believe it or not, affect the way you stand, the way you walk, the tone of your voice -- in short, your physical well-being and self-confidence. A man without savings is always running. He must. He must take the first job offered, or nearly so. He sits nervously on life's chairs because any small emergency throws him into the hands of others.

Without savings, a man must be too grateful. Gratitude is a fine thing in its place. But a constant state of gratitude is a horrible place in which to live. A man with savings can walk tall. He may appraise opportunities in a relaxed way, have time for judicious estimates and not be rushed by economic necessity.

A man with savings can afford to resign from his job if his principles so dictate -- and for this reason he will never need to do so. A man who can afford to quit is much more useful to his company and therefore more readily promoted. He can afford to give his company the benefit of his most candid judgments.

A man with savings can afford the wonderful privilege of being generous in family or neighborhood emergencies. He can take the level stare of any man ... friend, stranger or enemy. That ability shapes his personality and character.

The ability to save has nothing to do with the size of income. Many high-income people spend it all. They are on a treadmill, darting through life like minnows.

The dean of American bankers, J.P. Morgan, once advised a young broker: "Take waste out of your spending; youll drive the haste out of your life."

If you do not need money for college, a home or retirement, then save for self-confidence. The state of your savings does have a lot to do with how tall you walk.

"Try a Moustache" Day

All men (and possibly some women) who have the ability to grow facial hair have always wondered what they look like with a moustache. But very few people are actually willing or able to pull it off without looking ridiculous.

I must admit, sometimes when I shave, I leave the moustache on for a few minutes just to see what it looks like. I give myself a chuckle, do a line from SuperTroopers and then let sense get the best of it and shave it off.

I think we should have a "Moustache Forgiveness Day."

One day, anyone who wants a moustache is allowed to try it out--just to see how hilarious it looks. If someone goes "Hey! That moustache on you looks hideous!" you could just be like "yeah, I know...but it's 'try a moustache day.'"

Typoglycemia

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiately cllaed Typoglycemia

Why do they hate us?

The Washington Post is reporting that 46 percent of Americans have a negative view of Islam and Muslims. This percentage is higher than after the Sept. 11 attacks.

What's even more surprising is that 60 percent of Americans say they are not very knowledgeable or not at all knowledgeable about Islam.

I guess the old adage of fearing that which you don't know applies here.

But how can sixty-percent of people say they do not know about something, hate it, and not feel inclined to learn more about it?

Besides, whatever happend to critical thinking? Most people that inhabit the Earth are good people who try to do the right things in life. How can a religion exist for hundreds of years and be the fastest growing in the world if it espoused hate or preached violence?

Oh that's right...it's doesn't preach that.

It's also interesting to notice that the article that is telling Americans that many of them hate Americans has an image of a woman who is completely covered is a veil. Does the article mention that this is not mainstream Islam? Of course not.

The article is viewable here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11735622/

Are you ready for some football?

I still cry myself to sleep because college and pro football is still months away. The world isn't entirely cruel though, because we are appeased with spring practice and the draft, then training camps.

All the professional stuff was in jeopardy due to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Basically, the world of professional football -- the sponsors, the owners of the teams, the players -- all have an idea of how much money the game will generate over the next few years based on previous trends. And then everyone tries to get a piece of it. The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is between the owners and the players and dictates, among many other things, how much each team can spend on salaries for players.

The players, represented by the NFLPA, try to negotiate that the salary cap should be high so each team has lots of money to give to the players. The owners, of course, want it as low as possible. Late yesterday, the owners and the players agreed to the new CBA that will be in effect for the next six years. It raises next years salary cap to $104 million per team.

This news is a great time to get into the quintessential discussion of, "why do the players make so much money?" I always have people who are not football fans make this their first complaint (or second, right after "it's so violent"). Well, this clearly sheds some light on the system. If television companies are willing to pay billions of dollars for the rights to show the games, and if owners are making hundreds of millions in revenues from cities and stadiums, then shouldn't the players who are actually providing the entertainment take a large chunk of the pie?

If it wasn't for their desire and love for studying their assignments all week long, and going out there and getting hit (or making the hits) then there would be no football.

I'm proud of the role my Cowboys played in the new CBA. And now...I'm even more ready for some football!

Think

There are some things that you do in life that simply require that you pay attention to what you are doing. A momentary lapse in concentration can have some crazy effects.

One of those things is mouthwash in the morning. Once you put mouthwash in your mouth, you should definitely remember that it is still there. I definitely forgot this morning, and my stomach was going through some exciting and unexpected experiences. My mouth has a nasty taste and I might as well not eat all day because I can't taste anything else. Man...and I've been craving lobster since last night, too!

New York, New York

"Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today
I want to be a part of it - New York, New York
These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it - New York, New York"

I had my training sessions approved a few days ago so I'll be heading to New York for a very exciting 9 day trip from March 21 to March 29. For several of the days I'll be attending training by Apple for managing the Tiger operating system as well as learning the potential of managing Macs in an Active Directory environment.

The evenings will be quite amazing. The first few days of the trip will be in the SoHo district and the trip will wrap up in Midtown Manhattan. I'm taking suggestions for what I should do during the evenings. I'll be catching a Broadway show during one of the evenings, and there are several other things on the To Do list. It won't be a touristy trip because I've been down the tourist route already in NY, but I plan on doing some fun things that New Yorkers themselves take part in.

Meet Natty P: Gangsta Rapper

Natalie Portman's rap from SNL this past weekend is very very funny. I can't quite picture sweet Natalie as a gangsta rapper, but this skit definitely makes it easier:



http://www.nbc.com/Video/videos/snl_1439_natalieraps.shtml

Let it out

The combination of events last night and this morning are one of the most bizarre and most fun times for me in recent memory.

So I have a (new) friend in his mid-20's who probably has more responsibility entrusted to him by his family and work than most of us could handle. I think the only way for us to successfully handle the challenges we face is to keep in mind the importance of an emotional balance. Unfortunately for my friend, he forgot this and Friday night/Saturday morning was a magnificent release of so many emotions and outpouring of craziness! It ended in a 120-mile road trip for me and a few friends at 3a.m. That was an interesting experience.

Too often people, especially men, are expected to act a certain way that encourages them to not discuss any challenges or hardships that they may be facing. It's almost as though if a man brings up a hill that he has to climb, there is a feeling of strength and perseverance that is chipped away from him. And to avoid this blemish, the only choice is to keep things internal.

Unfortunately that's a deadly choice. So many men create unnecessary stressful situations that release themselves in the form of medical problems.

I think the woman/wife in a man's life plays an important role in making sure that he is able to find emotional balance and release. If he has to keep up his act of "nothing can get to me" even in front of his spouse or partner, then the relationship is not truly as honest as it can be.

Mantra II: ILL-Literacy and Anida Yoeu Esguerra

I've been asked to emcee an event next Friday:

Mantra Part II: iLL-Literacy and Anida Esguerra

The more I read up on artists coming, the more impressed I get.

iLL-Literacy is a freakishly talented group of four college students and grads from California. They put on a unique theatrical presentation of poetry and music that people are super excited about. Many of the locals who saw them in Washington, D.C. recently can't stop talking about them.

The other artist coming is the Atomic Shogun, Anida Esguerra. Ha, Atomic Shogun, what a cool name. Reminds me I haven't eaten sushi in a long time. I think her website sums it up pretty well:

"Esguerra uses an interdisciplinary approach to creating art which mixes the visual, spoken and written into performed explorations of hybrid identities."

It's FREE, so I hope all of you get to come out:
March 10th
6:00 pm
Goodwin Hall

Did I mention Free?

Human Angels

A friend came across this interesting read on the Daily OM:
Beings of Light.

The piece is very interesting. There are so many people that have come across my life's path and have enriched my life so much.

The part that best describes what human nature can be about is:

"...most of them are regular people, going about their daily lives until called upon to be in the right place at the right time to bring peace, joy, help, or heal someone when they most need it...in the form of a teacher who gave you a piece of advice that touched your soul and influenced your path. The person that momentarily stopped you to say hello on the street, delaying you long enough to avoid an oncoming car or a collision, is also a human angel. They may offer nothing more than a kind word or a smile, but they will offer it when you can draw the most strength and support from their simple action."

God uses all of us in amazing ways. I know with my shady road crossing skills, many "human angels" have saved my life! But not just that, I think the traits that the description above shares should be something we strive for: giving a stranger a kind smile, saying hello, and striving to bring peace and joy to others. When we do these things, we are doing the work that God wants us to, and perhaps in some way, we're being a human angel to another.