50,000

That's right. 50,000 miles on the roadster.



Now, some of you might have a lot more miles. David does at least. But for me, it's more than my car (and more than my first new car).

Peg and I drove the roadster down to the Carolinas when I went to propose to her. Let me just tell you, smuggling ANYTHING in a car that small is hard when you have it packed for a week away. I'll always remember the trip down, and all the stops at Hardees. Georgetown with her friend... and the car was a part of it for me.

So anyway. 50,000. I'm sure she'll go a lot more (the car as well as Peg).

Thanksgiving Photos

Since I had to work Wednesday night and didn't get home until 1:30 in the morning (I'd provide a link to email my boss, but that would be mean), Peggy did most of the work on Thanksgiving on her own.

She did a wonderful job -- here's a picture of the table:




And for those of you wondering if David and Alyssa would ever remember each other:

X-Men Movie

So I was talking to my friend Doug about Ian McKellan. Actually we started out tallking about Joanne Whalley and then we discussed the movie SCANDAL she was in, which I thought was funny because McKellan (who is gay) did love scenes with her. Anyway...

Ian McKellan played the villan "Magneto" in X-men. Did you ever see it? The opening scene. You see people walking in a mud puddle...they zoom out, its a bunch of people in raggy clothes getting drenched in rain as they are herded into a concentration camp. A young man is seperated from his family...he reaches for them, the metal fences and gates bend towards him. Its shortly after this we learn in modern day he is the evil mastermind, Magneto who has a power over magnetism.

HOW FAR OUT OF THEIR WAY DO THEY GO TO LET YOU KNOW THE BAD GUY IS A JEW? Thats just wrong!

Oy!

Basket Brawl

Ok...what the fuck is wrong with these asshole athletes. Ron Artest is going to sit out the whole season because he hit a spectator who threw a drink at him. DUMBASS! Here is whathe should have done!

Artest makes a shitload of money...the NBA has the incident on tape. Get the film, find out who the guy is and where he lives. Then run cable advertising with the incident and the guys name. Ask people who live in his town to return the favor for you. Everywhere the fan goes people will spill things on him... Now thats Payback!

Thanksgiving!

The Thanksgiving weekend is here and I have my first house guests! My friends, Chris, Doug, Erin and Colleen are up from Oceanport, NJ. Its nice to have some company from NJ stay for a few days. Makes the new apartment feel a bit more like a home when I can entertain visitors.

Thanksgiving is by far the most BORING holiday ever!

Why? Because its the only holiday where you know all the food that awaits you with NO surprises. How dull! I mean even BBQ's with their preidctable Burgers and Dogs have some surprise twists when (in my case) Stan's parents show up with EGG ROLLS. But Thanksgiving...tradition = boring.

Worse yet! What are we really celebrating? The fact that the Indians fed the Pilgrims and the Pilgrims repaid them with their eventual genocide. Charming!

Thanksgiving

Actually, I disagree... Thanksgiving for me has always been an interesting holiday, and although Turkey is the normal centerpiece, it doesn't stop there for my family.

Of course I have a vegetarian and 2 vegans in my family, so that might throw it.

But, there are others who keep it interesting. David accepted our invitation to come over, but he considered recreating Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving, like x-entertainment did.



If you don't recall, this feast consisted of buttered toast, popcorn, ice cream, pretzels, and jelly beans.

Mmmmmm, buttered toast.

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

How's The Weather?

Ok, so why I torture myself like this I'll never know...

I log on to check my mail and haven't told AOL I moved. It always gives me the weather for Neptune, NJ...I just changed it now so it gives me Portland.

Its 46 in Neptune right now, and 30 here! 16 degrees difference right now, that's SICK! Oh and the Sun sets at 4:09 here and at 4:32 in NYC. Incidentally Boston is 9 degrees warmer at 39 right now.

The high here today is expected to be 46 in Neptune its going to be 55.

I can't wait to get my new LL Bean flannel lined jeans...but if I start to dress like the guy on the Brawny paper towel package...shoot me.

The Quest Continues

There are a lot of food myths out there...like "The Best Wine Comes From France." Meanwhile Californian wines have been beating the French and Australlia and even Chile are competing with them. And while most people think that "you can't get good pizza outside of New York" is a myth (especially because of Chicago Deep Dish) its true in this area. I have searched high and low for a good slice.

Lets start out with the mocking a NY/NJ resident gets here. We order pizza by the "pie" or the "slice." Not up here. In Portland you get a pizza. "I'd like a large pie with pepperoni" is answered with "I have cocunut creme and apple, none with pepperoni." Even though they KNOW what we mean.

Anyway, this quest to find good pizza began 3 weeks ago. I started at a place recommended by the concierge at the Portland Harbor Hotel. "Flatbread Pizza Company." It sounded promising. When I got there it even looked promising...they had a beautiful brick oven!

The waitress approached me and informed me that "all of our cheeses are organic and none of our meats have any nitrates."

What The Fuck? Bring me the shit thats going to kill me? Organic cheese? Do I look like a fucking hippie to you? Look how clean my hair is!

Anyway, the pizza wasn't bad, but it wasn't "real" pizza...it was Fru Fru fancy crap.

So the quest continued...each place dissapointed...until there was HOPE!

I left the garage and bumped into a guy in Monument Square...he moved to Portland from BROOKLYN 8 years ago. "Anthony's Pizza" has the best Pizza in town. I made the trip to Anthony's. The staff was friendly, the pizza better than any other shit I tried in Portland, but honestly, I've had better fucking Pizza at Chuck E Cheese. HELP!!!!

Neil's Marathon

For a year, Neil (more-normal-than-Chuck) has been training for a Marathon. Today we went to Philadelphia to watch him finish.



Neil (black shorts, white shirt) running by



Triumphant Neil.

He looks exhausted, but I have to say, he did great. It took him just about 5 hours 15 minutes (I'll post his official time when I find it).

He says he decided to run the marathon by seeing a poster last year. His drive and commitment was inspirational.

Well, inspirational enough to walk back to where Neil was staying and then to walk to a restaurant to eat. This was about 2 miles. I'm exhausted.

If you know Neil, drop him an email and congratulate him.

Chairea

When we helped Brian move into his condo, we placed all the chairs in one area (he had something like 17 places to sit when he moved, and yet, there were only 2 of us helping him).

Neil and I named this section the "Chairea"

So of course, when our chairs arrived, I lined them all up.



The Chairea scares Peg, reminding her of a scene in "Amityville Horror".

What The Hell Is A Bulkie?

Ok, so I went to the Deli to order a Bacon and Egg on a Hard Roll and this is what happened...

Whats A Bulkie? Click Here For Streaming WMV

Thanks to Nicole at Russo's Deli for being a good sport.

Life In Portland, Maine

Well, I have been here for almost three weeks now. Wow, what a difference between life in NJ and life here. Its a difficult adjustment. The people here are so nice. Even the people at the DMV! I got my new license yesterday and I was in and out in about 15 minutes! The freakin' DMV (or BMV as these Mainers call it) is IN THE MALL!!! So I went, got my license and grabbed something to eat...if I weren't on my lunch break I coulda done some shopping. They have a NY and Co there and I know how much El Presidente likes NY and Co.

The city itself is "cute." Its about the size of New Brunswick, but far cleaner. There are brick sidewalks even some cobblestone streets. More restaurants per capita in Portland than any other city in the US except San Fran. BUT at 8:00PM most of the traffic lights go from regular light to blinkers where one street has to stop and the other has a caution light. Everything closes early though, thats the big bummer.

Most people here have facial hair, even the women...and the infants.

Glasses

Some people call me domestic, some people call me snobby, some people call me Maurice. I drive Peg absolutely crazy by being very picky on things around the house.

Today, when my Dad came to sign for our chairs today (we got 7 out of 8, one was delivered in Chocolate Brown), he also brought by some wine glasses for us:



A nice set of 8 Burgundy glasses... nice and big.

I love this kind of stuff. And I'm sure it drives her crazy.

Hick Radio?

Ok, so now that I am settling down in Maine its time to start posting again. My first week ended on a Thuersday so I could return home to get things packed at home. I was living out of a hotel in Maine and on my way home started listening to a few of the stations I work for. One of them being 107-5 FRANK FM.

Our current contest is basically paying our listeners to listen. Hear us call your name and you win a 100 bucks if you call us within 10 minutes. Then you are in the running for a chance at $1 Million. Cool eh?

Here is how it went this particular Friday.

DJ: Frank FM is this Bob?
Bob: Yes it is, I done heard yuh call my name (ok he just said "I heard you call my name)
DJ: Well congrats, you are on Franks payroll and we're paying you $100 an hour to listen to Frank!
Bob: Wow, thats great, my wife made me enter, and then she heard my name.
DJ: So what are you going to get your wife if you win the million dollars.
Bob: I'm gonna get her a pick up truck (plus ammenities I have no idea what they were) and a Bobcat, she really likes them.
DJ: A bobcat?
Bob: Yeah you know one of them little tractors. She thinks their cool.

Oh boy...what have I gotten myself into?

Yuck!

One flavor I can't stand is French Vanilla. The smell makes me sick.

So when I was watching tv today and saw Cool Whip's new seasonal flavor, it made my stomach turn.



What about you guys -- do you like French Vanilla (or do you call it Freedom Vanilla?)

Fortune

A couple of week ago my friend Jen was over. We end up getting Chinese food, and she reads her fortune.

This is when Peg first learns about adding "in bed" to each fortune. It is known that the true meaning of a fortune cookie fortune may only be revealed with the addition of the words "in bed" to the end.
To that end, this is the fortune we got yesterday:



... in bed

Who said being married was dull?

BYO...Chair?

Finally! Peggy and I have finally found the dining room chairs we need, so we won't have to ask you to "bring your own chair" for parties, etc.

We just picked up 8 of these:



Of course, with such a large family, we'll still need a couple of chairs this Thanksgiving... but at least people will be able to sit around the table.

Chinese Delegation

So, as I'm walking in to work today, I'm told there is a delegation from Beijing in town and they want to speak to me about technology.




I'm thinking.... Sure, I can figure out some things to speak to Chinese officials about. And then oh yes, did he forget to mention that they want to see me in about half an hour?

So I spent half an hour answering emails and trying to figure out what I was going to speak about, while my co-workers figured out things they had to do so they wouldn't be around.

I spoke about my views of information technology and how we take non-computerized processes and digitize them. I talked about how we've built up my department. Best of all, the delegation spoke limited English.

If you've never spoken through an interpreter, it's worth going out of your way to find an opportunity to do so. It's a great way to hear your own jokes in a foreign language and see if they still deliver a good laugh.

I did fairly well and answered a number of questions and was rewarded with a business card holder with a panda on it. It works out since prior to this I've been using the box my business cards came in. They also took a lot of pictures with me.

I enjoyed the opportunity to talk to officials from the other side of the world and find out how much we have in common. It gives me great hope for the future and it's one of those things I do that makes my job so interesting.

My parting note to them was that when they visit again, in America, Fridays are dress down days.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

In honor of the Chinese Delegation (and our love of Chinese food), Peggy and I took out from one of our favorite restaraunts today.

Since this blog is intended not only to entertain, but also to share, here is thier info: Szechuan in Hempstead Plaza, 1721 Route 27. 732-973-9330.

Enjoy, and share the knowledge.

Mmmm Chocolate

I saw that they released this new poster for the new "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" due out July 2005:



And the only thing I could think of was: Holy crow, Johnny Depp is still alive?