It's Been a While

Today I received an email from a college friend who mentioned that I haven't written anything recently. That nudged me into action. I'm sorry I have neglected you, blog. I know I promised you more before. We've been together for over 8 years now, you deserve better.

Well, I do have quite a bit to write about, although I don't want to expound too much and bore you to tears. Here is the short-short version:

• I have a new Significant Other. It's been almost 14 months now. He's tall dark and handsome, good with his hands, likes my cooking (what's not to like? my mom would chime in), and makes me smile and laugh. I think I'll keep him around :). 
• I left the old job in September. What a long, strange trip it had been. I learned a lot, and met some cool people. After five years, a nice pen just wasn't enough to motivate me to stick around for another five, it was time to move on. 
• I got a new job, but it was not all I hoped and dreamed of. Enough on that... 
• I got a new-new job, and it so far is all I hoped and dreamed of. After a good chunk of time on the beach, I spent a few months working outside Philly. Recently, I have been commuting to Silicon Valley Sundays and coming home Thursday. More on this later... 
• Mom got a second chance, but you knew that already. 
• I have aspirations to become a real estate tycoon. With my previous apartment sublet, I'm now starting to look for more property. If I had my way, it would be a swanky two-bedroom with a view. We'll see how this shakes out. 
• Since starting Ironman training in December, I've bested my indoor tri and marathon finish times (the latter in Paris, which also deserves a writeup of its own), improved my cycling, and completed my first half IM (barely). April through June have been tough for training with the out-of-town work and long hours. Plus, getting over what has become full-blown anxiety of biking has taken longer than I thought. It wasn't until the Patriot Half that I felt really good in the saddle, and there are still some technical skills to relearn. Even though it's looking like a long shot at this point I'm still holding out hope of hearing Mike Reilly lauding my finish. Appreciate everyone's support in the journey so far. My offer for baked goods in exchange for accompaniment on a ride still stands. 

So there you have it, the last nine months in just under 350 words.

Jet Set

Off to Europe, mostly not for fun. Willem Dafoe is in first class reading a script. The suits picking up the bill only do business, not complaining! I need some shuteye before rocking up to the office straight from Heathrow. AA's 777s have built-in TVs and almost lie-flat beds. It's about time they entered the late 90's!!

See you in a week or so....

Is this where Dante had in mind when he wrote L'Inferno?

[DISCLAIMER: this post may inflame Texans and especially Houstonians. If one of them happens to be my brother's ex-fiancee, here's hoping you spontaneously burst into flames anyway.]

Three days in a town is not enough to grasp the essence of a particular place, especially when most of the 72 hours is spent behind a desk. I did not have great expectations of Houston when I found out I'd have some business to take care of, in mid-summer no less. My impression has not changed much. Turbulence on landing and on take-off, sweltering heat, and lack of pedestrians anywhere would do it. We drove three blocks, which is heretical for New Yorkers.

I will give Houston this: everyone (minus the ex-fiancee devil spawn) is incredibly nice. I have a few friends who live there and some who are soon relocating. Plus, prices are really low. Still, not enough reason for me to pack my bags and buy a ginormous house.

Back to the Salt Mines...

I have a tremendous amount of work awaiting me on my return from Lisbon. You will not hear much of me for the next month, don't take it personally....

Life Likes a Box of Chocolates

I love perks! Today a mysterious package arrived at my desk. A vendor with whom I had worked sent me a nice assortment of Jacques Torres chocolates. There goes my plan to avoid gaining weight over the holidays...

Crack(berry) addict

My boss asked me to upgrade my work mobile to a Blackberry. While I'm not against the concept, I hate the effects its availability has had on society. It makes me almost violent when people are furiously typing away way after the plane boarding door close and we're on the tarmac. Plus, I went on a date a few years ago with a guy who checked it every two minutes, and needless to say, he did not get a second date. I communicated this to my boss, and he is OK with me not being tethered to it at all hours. I also informed him of the steep upgrade costs since I was already under contract for a phone.

Long story short, I caved and took it. So far, I have been restrained. It's my new toy. Let's see how long it takes me to either chuck it against the wall or check into rehab.

Yawn

About 98% of my office is in Lost Wages for the rest of the week. The place looks like a ghost town, slightly better than how the former Andersen offices looked when they met an untimely demise 4 1/2 years ago. This is even better than being on vacation.

Holy Crap

Current mood: in a state of fear

I started my new job today. Since last night, it hit me that I have a new job. And I have been completely freaking out. All these thoughts are scrambling through my head: can I hack this job, will this company suck worse than Accenture, do I have to up and leave for Sydney right away, how will I cope with missing the summer...

The day actually went ok. One of the division heads came in from headquarters to get me acquainted, and an 11am "meeting" in the data center involved watching the Italy v. Australia World Cup match. I have some reading to do, but overall I am not busy yet. There was a brief moment of sheer panic, but I managed to avoid a complete meltdown at my desk and casting a really bad first impression to my co-workers.

As a welcome, the division head took me and a team member in town from Sydney out to dinner. I recommended Rosa Mexicano - fortunately, they loved it.

So far so good...

Borinquen

My cousin and I took a trip to Puerto Rico in between my jobs. We were expecting some nice beach time, lots of sun, and fruity drinks poolside. The forecast for the next few days is :

• today - PM thunderstorms (this is accurate so far)
• tomorrow - PM thunderstorms
• Saturday - rain (we are supposed to go snorkelling or kayaking)
• Sunday - partly cloudy

Of course with my luck, the damn sun will come out as we are flying out of San Juan. Ho hum.

Even though I've been here before, briefly, I forgot how American this island really is. I feel like it is a hotter, tropical, version of New York, with all the fast food chains and Spanish language signs. Every time I try to talk to people in Spanish, they answer me in English. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Isla Verde. This is within walking distance of the airport, but I believe we have to jump a fence to get in - not going to happen, what with the size of my cousin's luggage. Plus, there is bird shit on most of the pool lounge chairs. Yech.

Free At Last

It's official - my big news is that I got a new job. This will require two months of training in Sydney - score! - and some occasional short-term business travel to other branches in the US and Canada.

For those of you who have known me for a while, you are probably saying, "About effing time." I have been exploring options since Purgatory last summer. However, given that my current project is so great, it's been really hard for me to give notice. I have a lot of mixed feelings, mostly relief and excitement, but also a tinge of sadness for leaving behind some great people (well, with a few exceptions).

J is definitely happy that I'll be home more, so that we can spend time together more spontaneously. My mom is thrilled that I'll be able to eat dinner at home more often. I'm eager to have more time locally to spend with friends and also to try something new. Let's see where life takes me...

Hold Your Horses

For all of you complaining that I do not update my blog enough (Mike), there is a very good reason for that. Part of the reason is that my LGA-DCA travel schedule is very erratic. However, for reasons that I can't really discuss now, there are some things that have been keeping me busy. I may have some big news by the end of the week, that's all I can say right now...

Rejoice Ye Slacker

Thou shalt not fear the wrath of God - or thy boss - for extracurricular office web surfing, so sayeth the courts. I'm sure a lot of people are happy about this one...

Car of the Week: Hyundai Sonata V6

At least I did not get another gas-guzzler. This week I learned how to drive a car with Tektronic transmission, so it was kinda like a manual without the pain-in-the-arse clutch. I didn't think the gear switching was that responsive tho. Plus it handles like crap in the rain with normal automatic transmission.

Techies Take O-Town

Thank God the Internet is more stable today - wireless at the Omni is pretty shite. So here I am again for another software conference. It's the usual IT-geek scene - mostly middle-age men in polos and chinos, running around with RFID badges to hear thrilling presentations on software roadmaps and integrations by day and chugging beers and passed hors d'oeuvres after the sessions wrap up. The hotel is pretty far from everything, but tonight they are bussing us to Universal Studios for a live Fear Factor performance. It should be interesting to watch software vendors and customers compete at bug eating or whatever.

Last night I got invited to a swank (for Orlando) dinner with C-level folks, both from my company and from the conference sponsor. The chardonnay got the best of me, and at the urging of the CEO et al. I ended up doing an a capella rendition of the first verse of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" (the annoying song from The Bodyguard) on the eternal bus ride back to the hotel. It brought the house down, which I guess is better than the glass windows.

KCMO ho

I have been pleasantly surprised by Kansas City. Really, I didn't know what to expect. Granted it's a city, but it's in the middle of the Midwest, in red-state country. I wasn't sure how they would react to a Yankee like me. It's actually been a lot of fun these past few days. Almost won a hundred bucks playing Hold 'Em until I lost my chips after rebuy passed going all in and getting beat by a higher pair.

Things I like about Kansas City so far:

• co-workers are really nice and fun to hang out with
• more frequent flier miles
• Culver's ButterBurgers
• Diet Cherry Limeade at Sonic - they advertise in New York but there are none north of the Mason-Dixon line. I went back at 10:30 to get another one, although I may not be able to finish it
• barbecue - Jack Stack's baked beans especially kicked ass
• the Plaza buildings decorated with lights look like gingerbread houses - tres cute

Things that piss me off:

• driving to work - there will be no transit strike here because there is no transit
• 6:30am flights on Friday mornings - OUCH!
• 1 hour time difference is really throwing me off with meetings
• not being in the Big Room back in DC to browbeat my coworkers on recycling soda bottles instead of playing trash basketball with them
• missing the account Christmas party in Washington and my department's Christmas party back home

Hail to the C/Thief

Over the next few weeks, I am being sent to DC by my company to work for a federal agency. Woo woo. For each trip on the Delta shuttle, I get 1500 SkyMiles. I am salivating over this MQM boost, not to mention that I am now free from the Project from Purgatory. The only thing that is going to suck is the 7:30am start time.

ARGH

Very irritated at this point in time. My feet and decolletage are peeling, and my skin has broken out from all the cocoa butter goo I have been slathering on to keep my skin bronzed and supple. Then Jesus Christ Superstar showed up today. Even though I am highly against better living through pharmeceuticals, I think this situation calls for high doses of Xanax. Damn, this summer is gonna suck.

I need a hug, preferably from a hottie with good arms.

Larry Flynt's - Deep Thoughts

You may think it slightly lecherous that I actually set foot in The Hustler Club, but it was free and I was helping a co-worker celebrate his bachelor party before he heads back to Hyderabad to get hitched. So there...

My new best friend and I made some interesting observations while mammaries jiggled and poles were ground:

• I am at least two cup sizes bigger than the employees, on average.
• The workers really enjoyed my company and were more than happy to oblige.
• People outside of major metropolitan areas have minimal to no gaydar. (Baltimore is not a bustling metropolis.)
• Lapdances should be conducted differently for men and women. It does nothing for me to have someone bounce up and down on my thighs, most likely because I am not equipped for this type of movement to excite me.

Bring on the crabcakes (again)

Back in Bal'more to help out my client from last year with some software upgrade and testing issues. Yee ha. I am all by myself this week, but next week the partner is coming. I hope he is happy with my work. Also hope I am not stuck in my hotel room watching Law and Order re-runs ad nauseum.

Next week I'll be at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, cashing in my free Regency Club Upgrade certificate (yeay Platinum status!)

Any recommendations for good restaurants/bars?

Goodbye PAC

Today was my last day on my current project. This assignment really rocked. The people are so smart and friendly too. Most likely, I will never have another assignment quite like this and everything else will seem anti-climactic.

Originally I was supposed to finish last week, but they needed my data entry skills.

Next week - Grand Canyon and Las Vegas!