Go There, Try That

2011-06-12T11:10:00.005-04:00

You know what we gotta do? Get outta Memphis. How about a little travel trifecta? Tri-hell-yeah! Heyyyy… take it easy, no cussin’.

First leg: Madison, Wisconsin! Back to the city Jennifer and I called home for two years for a Craig and Teri Robideau’s wedding, and a friend / restaurant wait staff reunion-fest! By 10am on Friday, we were eating a cheese platter on the capitol square, and soaking up the greatness that is Madison. By noon, we were having lunch with the old work crew, catching up on all that is exactly the same from the day I left, and by 2pm we were having drinks on the Terrace. It’s Madison on hyperdrive! Farmer’s market on Saturday morning? Yes. Breakfast with Bobbie Harte? Yes. Wedding and reception? Yes, and it was pretty fun. A smaller crowd, and the family was being a little shy, so there was a moment with just Jennifer and I rocking out the dance floor while the aunts and uncles looked on… that guy! Post reception comedy club with the old school East Side crew? Yes. Sunday morning, Madison… what do you do? You go to Sardine for four hours, right? Right.
Gregg & Zhora, the Sardine crew (Kaila, Sunshine, and new girl), all provided for a great and relaxing way to close the weekend out. So, all we’ve gotta do now is get back to the airport and head home... which would all be much easier if the flight wasn’t cancelled. United, never fail to fail on that connector to Chicago! Quick overnight in a hotel near the airport, and we were back in Memphis by 10am. Home, shower, repack… leg #2 starts at 12:30.

Second leg: Europe! All of it! Well, a good portion of it. I took off from Memphis pretty quickly, and was off to Milan, Italy for about 10 hours. I went through ATL to get there, and was in by 9am Tuesday. Meetings started at about 10am, and we went through how the Italy business is going… va bene! Back to the airport, and time to go to the UK that afternoon. But wait! There’s a volcano, and just like last year’s Umdkrelkdfjjflksjdlkfj volcano in Iceland that crippled air traffic across Europe for a month, this lil’ fella was closing airports in the UK already. After landing in Brussels, and having plenty of time to make the next flight, my colleague and I said, “No way are we flying up there and getting stuck in the UK for the next month.” We’ll make a call in the morning, now time for a hotel. Well… when the European Union is meeting, and their headquarters is Brussels, and there is a volcano disrupting air traffic… guess what is hard to find? A frigging hotel room in Brussels. After an hour of calling every hotel in Brussels, we were able to find a hotel… at a cool $450 a night. Sheisse! Next morning, volcano decided to take it easy, and we were off to the UK, only an hour late for the meeting. We land in Birmingham, and as I head out from the gate area, a woman from the UK census comes up to ask if she can survey me as a traveler entering the UK. “Sure.” First question: How long will you be visiting the UK? “8 hours.” … “Oh, okay, that’s all, thank you.” Checkmate. How’s the UK business doing? Jolly good, guvnah! Back to the airport! Off to Germany! One country for two nights in a row? Impossible! No worries, it was two different hotels. How’s the German business doing? Groß! Now fly home!

Third leg: Hot Springs, Arkansas! Wait, what? Hot Springs… Arkansas? Yup. We were off to a Memorial Day weekend away with Jennifer’s parents in the ‘resort’ town of Hot Springs, Arkansas. We had a place on Lake Hamilton out on Long Island at the Wharf Resort. What is there to do in Hot Springs? Well… there are plenty of activities that talk about how great Hot Springs was in the 1920’s and 30’s, including the awkward “Gangster Museum of America!” I won’t even go into it, but this picture is far and away the highlight. There is golf… and I shot under a 100 for the first time… so yes, my personal achievement was completed in Hot Springs, Arkansas. And of course, there are the actualy "Hot Springs" for which the town is named. The springs feed a series of baths that were very popular in the 1800's and early 1900's, and they are still open today. So, as you go through the center of the town, there is one main avenue, where you have these gorgeous historic bath houses on one side, and places like the Gangster Museum of America! on the other side; a yin for every yang. We toured one of the bath houses that is kept 'as is' from it's historical heyday, and, yes, got into the baths of the Quapaw bathhouse, and... after 30 minutes... it cured my gout. In all, it was good to get away, fun to be with the ‘rents, and check the box of what many people in Memphis have done in the past… “spend a weekend in Hot Springs.”

And that is the travel trifecta. 10 days, 10,000 miles, shooting under 100, good times.

2011-05-25T10:54:00.001-04:00

The NBA sucks. Hands down, it’s easily one of the most embarrassing regular season things to witness. Football, every game counts. Baseball is setup to be a grind of a game, so you plan accordingly. Hockey is great to watch as long as you understand the blue line rule (trust me, you will 100% change the way you watch hockey if you understand this one rule). Basketball? Just horribly boring, with one exception: The Playoffs. The NBA playoffs, when teams realize that people are actually watching, and maybe even showing up to the stadium… heck, maybe even buying tickets?! It all really gets these guys going. Now, the playoffs in Memphis? Well, it was never very good, until the year Jennifer and I moved in… coincidence? Absolutely. This year “The Grizz,” as they are affectionately known in the local area, knocked off the “best team in basketball from the regular season” (which, as we’ve already covered, means nothing). And were pushing Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder (what a sports market mecca, huh?! Oklahoma City?!?! Honestly, what the f… heyyyyy), to the brink in the playoffs to possibly go to the Conference finals… so, what does one do when it’s a do or die playoff game? You go watch it live. WOOOO, Go Grizz! Free t-shirts and a big win to go to game seven! (Where the Grizz would lose to be knocked out of the playoffs and I would give up watching the NBA for another year). Good times, good win, great basketball.

2011-05-15T10:34:00.001-04:00

So… Arizona. It’s nice, I guess. I went there for a meeting for three days. Sunny, dry, done.

Back to Memphis a night early to kick of “Memphis in May”… and a weekend with the ‘rents. Let the good times roll. In their inaugural visit to the Mid-South, Jennifer and I hosted my parents to a barbeque flavored rock and roll theme weekend. If you know my parents, you’d say, “makes sense.” We kicked off with a Memphis Red Birds game, sitting behind home plate (not difficult in AAA baseball), and then started to rock on Friday morning. Graceland, home of the king, was a much better experience than I had imagined. I basically knew nothing about the guy, thought he was a Las Vegas piece of crap, and wouldn’t you know it… I was wrong. Way wrong. Am I a fan of Elvis now? You bet. It also helps to follow up Graceland by a tour of Sun Studios… you know, that little place on Union Ave in Memphis that recorded rock and roll… for the first time… ever. Waiiiiiiit a second fella, how can you declare the “first recording of rock and roll ever”? Well, here’s how. Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, that included Ike Turner, drove from Mississippi to Memphis to record some songs. The guitarist Willie Kizart had his amplifier, which was not of sturdy construction in the late 1940’s, break its speaker mounting and it had fallen into the case. Once they got to Sun Studios, they propped the speaker up in the case with newspaper, and when Sam Philips, the founder of Sun Studios heard it, he said “Record it.” Thus “Rocket 88,” the first song with a distorted electric guitar, hit vinyl shortly thereafter. (Now, if you want to make a point that there are plenty of “rock and roll” songs that don’t include distorted guitar, and therefore you dispute my claim… then I encourage you to not).

Let the weekend continue… right into some of today’s rock and roll at the Beale Street Music Festival. Three days, four stages, 100+ bands, and all around ridiculousness. That first evening we saw Cage The Elephant (not very good live), Cake (excellent live, as always), and MGMT (turns out they are from Memphis, and turns out not that great live… only having two songs doesn’t help either). It was the next night though, which really rocked when the four of us along with the newest duo into the circle, Bill and Jessica Ganus, headed up close to the front of the stage to see Mumford & Sons. The rest of Memphis got the memo as well, and a solid 40,000 people were there by the time they started. Let it be known: Mumford & Sons can put on a f*%#^@ concert. Below is a video of a new song that they had recorded only a week prior in Nashville. As we know, “This song is off our new album,” is basically a crowd killer at any concert… but, as you’ll see from the video, not so much with M&S. And they played four new songs, all to this level of energy and response from the crowd. Yeah… worth it.

We rounded out the weekend with a tour of the Gibson Guitar Factory (R&R theme), and of course with some barbeque at Rendezvous. First family visit to Memphis: success.

Fast forward 4 days… second family visit to Memphis: GO! The pregnant Kristen (holy crap, Kristen is going to have a baby) and Keith arrived on none other than Cinco de Mayo. What does that mean? You guessed it, Kristen was the designated driver! The next morning, the tacos from the night before gave Keith and I a headache… not sure why. Anyway… I won’t go into much detail, but we were once again at Graceland for a second Friday in a row, and in Sun Studios again. Good times? You bet. This time though, we took out the concert and added in the Memphis Zoo. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… the Memphis Zoo is excellent. Highlights for this zoo trip: a hyperactive dik dik, and a masturbating monkey… now it’s a party! Also, there was a massive flood... it didn't do anything except sink Arkansas, so everything turned out just fine for us.

2011-04-25T22:35:00.003-04:00

The third annual Erie-friends-a-palooza went down in Roswell, Georgia this year at McBride Manor. There is something about friends that put the effort in to get together at least once per year that really puts people into a different level in my book. Everyone made it except for Diego for a third year in a row, and Jennifer made her first appearance (somebody has to play the rookie). I’d like to give out some of the awards for the weekend here:
Best Food: Beef Brisket Lasagna… what the hell? How have I not had this before? It is incredible.
Drink of Choice: Manhattans… a lot of Manhattans… too many Manhattans
Best Scramble Team: PJ Logan, Norder, Douyard, Me at 7 under par. (2nd year in a row for this team)
Most Pregnant: Terri
Best New Trend: Fedora Fridays
I’m sure some other stuff happened, but I only came away from the weekend with a total of two pictures. One, I’ve put in here… the other one that I excluded was simply Norder passed out, and we’ve all seen that. Hey-o, still love ya, fella. Next year, we put our names in the hat to host in Memphis. I think it’d be a great time… so, we’ll see… but no matter where it does go down, I’ll be there.

2011-04-08T20:42:00.003-04:00

You know what I don’t drink enough of? Moonshine. I flew direct from Switzerland to Atlanta, hopped in a rental car, and headed for Cedar Bluff, Alabama. Destination: Jennifer’s Grandparents house. Occasion: 90 years of greatness achieved by Mr. Sam Borders. That’s right… the man, the myth, the legend, achieved what all of my grandparents had attempted to do… get to 90, get some presents, and enjoy a bit of scotch once there. And it’s the presents where things took a turn for the awesome. Ol’ “Grandaddy,” as Sam goes by with the family, was opening up said gifts, when he unwrapped a ‘joke’ gift of a bottle ‘Georgia Moon Corn Whiskey.’ He takes a look at it and says, “Looks like some white lightening.” … “Yeah, Grandaddy, thought it was funny.” … “You want some real moonshine?” The old man shuffles to the back of the house, and comes back with the jar on the right. Yeah… exactly… awesome. He also received a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, as seen in the middle. In the end, he and I took a drink straight from the jar… of ‘the good stuff.’ I think I earned another merit badge on my way to becoming a Southerner.

2011-03-31T21:34:00.004-04:00

Looks like I made it out of Japan on time. A week after I left, the strongest earthquake to hit the country in, ohhh sayyy, 400 years, took place; follow that up with a tsunami that basically leveled every coastal town in the northeast of the country, and Japan is in a bad spot. On the fortunate side, everyone that I work with there, along with their immediate families and coworkers ended up to be okay.

When people think of March, you probably think of St. Patrick’s Day… and you’d be right. And when you think of St. Patrick’s Day, I’m guessing you think of food, Vegas, and Switzerland… right? Right?! Yep.

Moving to a new city is a great time, but there is definitely a challenge to it… and that is “friends.” When you don’t have a designated location to go meet with all of your peers on a daily basis where to form long last connections and relationships (i.e. school), it makes it a bit more difficult to ‘expand your social network.’ And, when you move to a city that nobody you grew up with has moved to (or even considering moving to), it’s square one on the friend front. “Oh, what about the people you work with?” Don’t get me wrong, yes, I’m all for that, but this guy wants to have a drink… let lose a little… shoot some bottle rockets out of moving car windows… umm, wait a second… and those work connections are certainly part the network, but it often can become like the old days of Erie, PA. GE this, GE that, let’s talk more about work. No thanks, that’s what I do at work. So… the next best connection that just about everyone has… we all love food. Enter: Foodie Memphis... the Blog / Facebook group that brings those of us in Memphis that like to eat. Hello tasty food, hello instant network expansion. The first dinner was a South of Beale… aka “SOB”, and yeah, already got the friend front going. Gotta get out there, and we’re all over it.

Now, when most people I know think of St. Patrick’s Day, they think of the fact that they’re going to have to wear some layers for the inevitable bar crawl that it becomes. Why? Because most of those people are in New England… and it’s cold in March. Memphis… not so much. It was 75 degrees, sunny, and low-and-behold… I stumbled across something quite exciting about this little town… open containers? No problemo. That’s right… even Wicked-pedia says it (must be true, right?): “The entertainment district along Beale Street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, is specially exempt from both Tennessee's statewide open container ban and Memphis's local open container ban, thereby permitting the open consumption of alcoholic beverages on the street.” (Also, on a side note, as Tennessee tries on a daily basis to challenge the “Live Free Or Die” stance of New Hampshire… open containers for passengers in a moving vehicle in Tennessee? Also not a problem). St. Patrick’s Day on Beale Street… well, it’s a lot like my trip to Dublin in 2002… all Americans, copious revelry, and great barbeque.

If Mark Lane was going to get married, how would you celebrate? Would you go to Vegas, buy a table at Tao, cuatro loco yourself to sleep at a dinner table, rap with Asher Roth, win money on international soccer, lose it all by ‘accidentally’ sitting down at “Spanish Blackjack” and playing it like regular black jack for 10 minutes, and then get on a flight to Switzerland? Yeah… me too.

Speaking of Switzerland, how the heck is Lucerne these days, right?! Yeah, so I find myself in Lucerne Switzerland… home of that tower thing, in the lake thing, and the Alps, and that… yeah… something is here, right? No? Okay, I’ll have a beer.
In all reality, Lucerne’s old city is exactly as you’d imagine it… cobblestones, very old buildings, small bridges over the blue-green rivers of the alps, and a big lake for people to take pictures of. A great trip for work overall, and as I said, you’ve got to get out and visit, otherwise, you simply will not learn. Switzerland high notes… Cubans, Rathaus Braueruerueieri, and rain… lots of rain.

Now… side note… it’s completely public now, so how does the name “Uncle Ray” sound? Good, right? Yeah, I thought so… therefore, I requested that my sister have a baby, and she complied. That statement was a joke… you know that right? Anyway, it’s a girl! Congratulations to my wonderful sister, and the best brother I’ve ever had, Keith. I’m certainly looking forward to August!

2011-02-28T19:24:00.003-05:00

How ‘bout them Packers? I am through and through a Patriots fan, but while they work through this break-regular-season-records-and-dominate-the-league-only-to-completely-fail-in-the-playoffs phase, I’m all for rooting on the Packers. After all, I did just move out of Wisconsin, and that state has its priorities… 1) Football, 2) Football, three way tie for 3rd) Beer/Cheese/Brats. So… congrats to all my Packers fan friends… a win well deserved.

Let’s talk music... in many forms:

How ‘bout that Memphis blues scene? The International Blues Challenge is held in Memphis every year. As a new Memphian, I was feeling the obligation on the music front, and we really hadn’t experience much of the Beale Street scene. So… off we went, to the Blues City Café to hear some of these artists playing the night before the “championship” round at the Orpheum. We sat at the smokey bar (yep, they’re still smoking away in the bars in Tennessee), and listened to some great music by what looked and sounded like a very experienced band. Five minutes later, they called up someone else from the mic, and the guy sitting at the bar next to us goes up, grabs a guitar and rips out two songs. The MC gets back up there, calls out someone else’s name, and wouldn’t you know the guy right down the bar from us gets up and takes over the piano. That’s when we realized that we were two of only a handful of people who were not the actual musicians planning to go up on stage. Good music, good times. The next day, we went to the solo/duo “championships,” and saw some impressive performances… but when it comes down to it… the random artists mixing it up and jamming away on stage in a smoky bar on Beale Street… that’s what it’s all about.

How ‘bout some Indie Rock… from Easta Green Music? The next week, it was time for some of the final sessions for recording in San Diego for Dojo Joe. That’s right… June 2011, Dojo Joe, will be releasing a special edition double album. I know right? Double album? An entire album titled “I Know You Know Where I’m Going”, and then the B-Sides… appropriately titled “A-Sides.” It’s been five years… and the world needs more Dojo Joe.

How about musical theater? How about a musical rendition of Alice in Wonderland performed by an elementary school class? Yeah, that happened… and guess what? It was awesome. Jennifer and I joined Gaurav and Tamara to see their daughters school play. Sonia played one of the “flower girl chorus” (or whatever name it was), and she did quite well. The songs were good, the kids were on cue, and it was straight through, one hour, no intermission, action action action, sing sing sing, go go go, and then we were done. That’s my kind of school play.

Alright… that’s it for the music scene. Now, onto a bit of international travel. How about… Tokyo? Sure, Tokyo. So I was in Tokyo at the end of February… and a week later, it all went to hell. This trip was a great visit though. I went to the business facilities that we have there, and met with the team face to face. Meeting in person is absolutely critical for doing business with Japan. 100% required. Sure, it’s far away, but if you think you’ll have an ounce of success with some conference calls and even a video chat now and again, you’re kidding yourself. Go there, get involved, know the market, know the people, and then you can win. I took a couple of fun shots here... one of Shibuya crossing (left), and the view from my hotel window of the Tokyo Tower... umm, yeah, not bad.

Alright… that was February… and that was a good time.

2011-01-31T15:39:00.002-05:00

Well… I bought a house… another one. This one is a full on house though, without wall or floor/ceiling sharing neighbors, which is a step in the right direction. This one is also about 100 yards from the Mississippi River, so I’ve sent away for my raft building plans… we’re gonna set this adventure afloat, Tom Sawyer style.

January was great. It kicked off at 12:01am partying at Sushi Roku in Santa Monica, CA, followed by a disappointing loss by the Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl. Yes, my love affair with the Madison, WI football scene culminated in a trip to Southern California to watch a college football game for a school I did not go to. I think somewhere in the 2nd quarter, I looked down at the ridiculous meter only to see that it had cracked open and was covered in nacho cheese… incredible. The Rose Bowl is an experience, and so if your alma mater and/or adopted team has the chance to play there… man up, buy a ticket, and get there. It is one of the “go there, try that” events that is highly recommended.

About a week later, I bought the house. On 01/11/11 at 11:00am, the closing went down at the law offices of Farris, Bobango, Branan. Yeah… that’s right… ‘Bobango’… sounds exactly like you would think it does… go ahead, say it, “Bo-Bang-Go!” Fun right? I never thought signing a check for that much of my money away could be so much fun… but if you’re handing it Bobango, you know it’s a party. We worked with the incredible Sally Isom to get the new house, and it was a great experience. If, for whatever reason, you find yourself looking for a home in Memphis, TN… call Sally.

Then… the moving truck showed up. And they had Jennifer’s stuff, and my stuff… oh wait, Jennifer? You haven’t met Jennifer? Well, let’s give that a quick rundown. Jennifer and I met in Madison… she’s Korean, but grew up with American parents and moved all around the world until she ended up in her teen years in Madison, Alabama, and went to college in at the university of the same state. She took a job up in Madison, moved there two months after I had in 2008… and the rest is a good time. So… back to the story. The moving truck showed up, and had Jennifer and my goods all crated in the back of an 18-wheeler… and when they pulled up the sides of the truck, it looked more like a circus had come to town. The crew of seven managed to unload, unpack, and basically place everything into the correct rooms within 6 hours… it was pretty intense. I signed the papers, and we turned around to the disarray that was left behind, and went to it. Within a week, we had basically everything put away… and since then it’s been slowly but surely ‘refining’ the living space. Thankfully, it’s been a relatively painless process.

Work talk (sort of): How about a quick trip to Florida? Why not? The COO staff meeting was in Florida, so we headed down there for some meetings, planning, and fishing. Wait, fishing? Yes… game fishing. How about this fish, right? Sailfish, something like 80” long… ridiculous! We had three boats, and every boat caught something insane, including a hammerhead shark. Yeah, I know, right? A hammerhead! Who the hell does that? Anyway… it was a good time, and a good meeting. I followed that up by hosting an 80 person event in Memphis on asset efficiency... not bad for being 60 days on the new job, and it came off pretty successful. And if you’re wondering about the new job… yeah, it was an excellent choice to come down here… I am absolutely loving it.

There you have it… a pretty good start to 2011.

2010-12-23T18:45:00.001-05:00

New city? New job? What else is new? Well... there’s a new sports team to cheer on… I guess. The Memphis Grizzlies are the only “big four” professional sport in Memphis, and so it is only appropriate to go see them. And since it’s the NBA, and it’s the worst of the “big four” sports to watch… you’ve got to do it the only way that makes it worth it… courtside. Yup… Jennifer and I were lucky enough to be given a couple of seats courtside, and we watched our new hometown heroes fall mightily to the under .500 team of the Houston Rockets. Ahh, the NBA at it’s best! Okay, so the game itself wasn’t that exciting, but there were some high points. First off, when you sit courtside, your car also gets the privilege of a nice spot under the FedEx forum, next to where the players park. Since my car hadn’t yet been delivered to Memphis, it was fun to watch the valet pull the rental Mitsubishi Galant next to the Bentley and the Jag. Secondly, the FedEx Forum is a nice place, and the staff, food, seating, etc. were all quality. Thirdly… the half time show… was none other than Ray Parker. Oh, excuse me, you don’t know Ray Parker? Let’s see… how about if I sing a couple of lines from one of his more popular songs… it goes, “if there’s something strange… in the neighborhood… who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!” … yeah, that Ray Parker. And yes, that was the only song he played, and it was awesome.

So, with a new city, new job, and new NBA team… you’ve got to find a new house right? Right. So, Jennifer and I worked with the incredible Sally Isom to find the some homes in the Memphis area that suited us well... turns out, there are a few homes for sale these days… something about a downturn? Either way, Sally lined up 40 properties for us to see over a two day period. Yes, forty (40). We looked from the ‘burbs way out east, all the way through the city to the Mississippi river. It was nuts. But, halfway through Day 2, out on ‘Mud Island’ in ‘Harbortown’… there it was… a place that fit. Hmm, let’s see the listing… okay, little more than we wanted… but how about if we put an offer down for… sayyy, this much? One day later, accepted. Closing is scheduled for January 11, 2011 at 11am. Makes sense right? Good times will be had.

What’s the next logical thing with all this new stuff? Out with the old! I flew back up to Madison where Jennifer was finishing off her last week of work, and I arrived for a packing up and heading out extravaganza. As you can see here, it wasn’t a whole lot of work on our end for the packing up session, as we had the best moving crew in the industry putting our stuff into a few hundred boxes. There were four guys, they were ridiculously efficient, and it still took two days… which means we have too much stuff. They also had to trek through the snow to get the stuff into trucks, which just added to the ridiculousness. A second move in a row for me that is in the middle of winter… I wonder when I’ll learn. Lucky, we did throw a number of things out, including this old school TV and stand, and conveniently set it up with someone else’s couch in the “homeless man’s living room.” … Hmm, is that PC? Nope!

We did our “goodbyes” in what was a great home for the last two years, including heading up for some food on the capital square and checking out the Christmas tree in the capital building. There of course was one last trip to Sardine to enjoy a bite and a drink, then we hopped in the car and drove from Madison to Memphis. 650 miles, a quick sleep over in Bloomington, IL, and good times the whole way.

2010-11-30T16:58:00.002-05:00

Well… it was high time for a change. After a great summer and two year anniversary in Madison, I was getting restless. It may have had something to do with another a third consecutive Wisconsin winter approaching, or that I had been in the same job for two years (easily the longest ‘continuous’ role I’d kept), or maybe it was that another birthday was approaching with some milestones that are likely to be missed. And thus, I wrote the “Thank you, and goodbye” email. So often when you work for a company for 6, 7, and going on 8 years, you receive these emails but never are quite sure if you’d ever send one. I guess this was my time.

So, I said goodbye to the company that gave me a great start, taught me more than I thought possible, and gave me a network of friends and colleagues that have shaped who I am. I said hello to a new company, new people, and a new city… Memphis, Tennessee. Blues, Elvis, dry rub barbeque, and new beginnings, y’all.
November, what a month right? Football in full swing, my birthday, and Thanksgiving… I love Thanksgiving. I mean, really, stop to think about how good Thanksgiving is okay? Just pause, one second, and think… “Thanksgiving”… oh man. For anyone who doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, I suggest you just go ahead and start that tradition. No need to move to a new continent to escape religious persecution... just go ahead and cook yourself a turkey.

I was back in New Hampshire for the gluttonous holiday, and we stayed up at the house in Lincoln for a change of scenery. Wendy & Al were there, along with Mom & Dad, and we even had Tyler show up for dinner, as is the norm for most holidays. There was a turkey… it was covered in bacon… it was good.

During the weekend, it was time to enjoy a trip up to Castle in The Clouds. Why? I don’t know why, but when you’re 29 and you go home to hang out with your parents in New Hampshire for a few days… you do random stuff. I hadn’t been inside the “castle” for over a decade easily, so it was cool to see. The view from the front porch doesn’t get its justice in this picture… but you can get the idea; a lake, mountains, trees… all good things.

And then… just as quickly as I showed up… it was time to get back to Memphis… there was work to be done.

2010-10-31T21:26:00.000-04:00

Autumn is a great season. Honestly, things cool off, a couple last rounds of golf are squeezed in, days get shorter, sweaters come out, the leaves change, and we finish it all off with a ridiculous party with costumes… how can you not enjoy this?

October was a good month. We kicked off the festivities with Matt Eckl’s wedding to the lovely Nicole “Niki” Clouse, in Pittsburgh, PA. We’ll title this one, “18 Hours in Pittsburgh: The Eckl Nuptials.” I grabbed a 6:30am flight out of Madison on Saturday morning, and was into PIT by about noon. I checked into the airport Hyatt… that’s right, the airport hotel… grabbed lunch, and hopped on the express bus to downtown… that’s right, the bus. The PIT airport is an easy 30 miles outside of the city… rental car? No, I’ll be drinking. Taxi? $50+, no thanks. I was in my suit, as I only brought an over the shoulder carry-on for the trip, and was a bit overdressed for the bus clientele… but all was good. I ended up going to the furthest stop on the line and getting off near Carnegie Mellon University. From there, I proceeded on foot for about 8 blocks until I came to the church. Arrival time: 3:15. Total cost from the airport = $2.50. Once inside the church, I was fortunate enough to be graced by the presence of CAS all-starts Brian “Monty” Montgomery and Dave “This Guy” Caloia, both of whom I hadn’t seen in about two years. After a expeditious ceremony, we were on our way to The Pennsylvanian, a ornate and historic train station that served as the site of the reception. Despite horrendous acoustics, our table had a good time giving the impression that two guests who did not make it, were in fact there and required more food, and naturally more wine; ahh, the good times of having a second 8oz filet. Now, around midnight, it was time to roll. I hailed a taxi, headed to the airport, slept off some of the gin and tonics, and grabbed the 6:15am flight out. 18 hours in Pittsburgh… congratulations, Eckls.

As a resident of Madison, and as a graduate of a university with no football team, I’ve adopted the UW Badgers as my team of choice. I’ve got the gear, I know the players, and I even hate Ohio State like any other fan of the non-OSU Big Ten schools. So, when Ohio State was coming to town, ranked as #1 in the nation, and it was the ESPN College Gameday nationally televised night game… I had to be there, and I we all had to party. Tailgating in Madison is not easy. In fact, it’s a pain in the ass. There aren’t parking lots, the roads surrounding it are all residential, and overall it’s often not worth the hassle when most games kickoff at 11am. But a night game, and a big one, and many people attending… well, there’s a time for everything, and it was time to tailgate. We ended up securing an excellent location, two blocks off Regent St., were surrounded by other revelers from OSU and UW, and went through nearly 80 brats and burgers… with what I would assume was a 2:1 ratio of PBR’s to meat products (generally a good rule of thumb for any Wisconsin event). Despite a good tailgate… how ‘bout them Badgers? Throughout the entire game, Wisconsin owned OSU. Driving down the field, dismantling the OSU defense with passing and running games, and shutting down Terrell Pryor’s offense… it was an upset from the beginning and I’ve never seen Camp Randall so frenetic. Two minutes prior to the end of the already decided game, the announcer called out “Please remain in your seats when the game ends; please do not rush the field.” … um, yeah, that didn’t work. We eventually made our way out onto the field as well, and stood out on the 50 yard line among the insanity. What a game.

The next day, I was on a flight to Sweden to start a two week Sweden-Israel review. As great as it was to get back to the motherland again, it was cold, and I saw the first snow of the season coming down. Now, cold is fine with me, but when you’re packing light for a business trip that involves an average high of 30 degrees in one country and another with 90 degrees… you sort of pack for 60 degrees. That being said, I was a bit cold on the rainy and windy walks to restaurants around town, but hit up all the classics: La Terrazza, Dinner 22, Magnus & Magnus, Hello Monkey… the list goes on, and Gothenburg had its quarterly US stimulus delivered. The week flew by, and I was soon boarding a plane through strike ridden Paris to get myself to Tel Aviv. Despite the media hype about stranded planes at Charles de Gaulle airport, all systems were go for my Air France flights and we were on time. In fact, it made for a relatively empty Air France lounge and left open a number of the PlayStation3’s that they have in Terminal E for people to play. Yeah, so I was sitting next to a bunch of small French kids playing video games… no big deal.

Israel… not cold, hot. I landed around 11pm in TLV, grabbed my rental car, programmed in the Galgalatz radio station, and was off to the Sheraton. There wasn’t much time for fun though, because in Israel the work week starts on Sunday morning. We had great reviews with the team there, and as always they showed great hospitality. I was sure to visit the falafel, shwarma, and hummus shops in Tel Mond for lunch, as you simply can’t match what they do outside of the small village in the center of Israel. Honestly, I want to hire the falafel guy to just hang out in my kitchen at home… it’s ridiculous. The trip ended on Wednesday night when I boarded the flight back through Atlanta and headed up to Madison for the end of October festivities...

Halloween: a fun little thing for kids in most the US, a time to go nuts for adults in Madison. I don’t know why Madison gets so into Halloween, but they simply do, and if I’m living in Madison, WI for Halloween, I’m going to go nuts as well. Bring on the full Panda costume. That’s right, everyone’s favorite bamboo-eating-China-representing-endangered-and-cuddly -as-all-hell bear was my costume of choice. So, the Panda, the Zoo Keeper, Cap’n Crunch, the Triathlete, the Shooting Star, and a set of 1950’s tourist headed over to the Barrymore Theater party on Friday night. Good times, oh yes, good times. The panda awoke with a small headache… too much bamboo juice… but there was a mission, and it was to complete a bike race in full costume. Yes, the Alley Cat bike race of Madison was on the schedule, and I ended up taking part. My buddy Space Ghost (aka Gordon) and I decided to partner up for the race which hit five different checkpoints all throughout the city of Madison on what was about a 15 mile course. The day was gorgeous, and there were thousands of people out and about… which meant citywide panda sightings were quite an event. “PANDAAAAA!” people would scream as we went by… children would call out to their parents to “Look at the panda!”… and every other car in the town honked as kids pressed their grubby little faces against the windows. I must say, the reaction to the panda was downright absurd. The icing on the cake was certainly biking through the student union when multiple “Panda!” screams were accompanied by a young co-ed shouting, “I wanna tackle him and squeeze the shit out of him!” Sorry babe, this Panda has a race to win, and this big fuzzy head isn’t making me go any faster. Space Ghost and I were hauling through the course, and had already hit our last checkpoint when there was a miscommunication on direction and the panda ended up flying over the handle bars and landing on the concrete bike path. Did the panda hit his head? Yes. Did the panda’s oversized, soft and fuzzy, multi-layer head prevent what could have been certain disaster? Yes, again. After I had shook off the fact that the panda costume doubles as a safety suit, and straightened out the badly misaligned handle bars, we were off on the home stretch. Panda and Space Ghost finished in 7th and 8th, respectively, out of a field of 40 racers. Not bad for a sloth like animal and cartoon talk show host.

And that was it… October ended with days that were nearly two hours shorter, temperatures 20 degrees cooler, leaves all colored brown and off the trees, and one sore shoulder to remember it for the next few weeks. Autumn is a great season.

2010-09-30T04:24:00.001-04:00

Adios, summer… and muchos gracias. Summer of 2010 was a damn good time, and I’d say that most people agree. So, let’s recap how it all came to a close and we switched gears to autumn:

Whad’ya Know? Not much, you? I actually attended the live show of ‘Michael Feldman’s Whadya’ Know’… which, until I had moved to Madison, I had no idea actually took place on a weekly basis at the Monona Terrace. It was insightful and a let down just like any time you see how the sausage is made, yet I’m glad I was there and I had a great time.

Barbecues = good times. I went through two propane tanks this summer, and I’d say that’s a bit of barbecuing. I like the hosting bit, along with the cooking bit… and a barbecue nicely rolls that into one. We had well planed barbecues along with the impromptu feast that would pop up. Hottest item on the grill this summer? Dry rubbed steaks. Close second? Brats… naturally. Grilled vegetables, grilled pineapple, and the endless flow of chicken also served me well.

Speaking of food… the Taste Of Madison happened again. You may remember my enthusiasm for the event last year… “within 25 feet of the first row of booths that outlined the entire capital, I was devouring my third food sample”… well, this year, I brought Andy, Rachel, and little Sophia in from Milwaukee to also enjoy the event… and also, I planned. First: downloaded the map of the vendors. Second: Printed out this year’s list of winners. Third: Highlighted them. And go. I ended up eating at something 17 different vendors. I couldn’t keep to the list at all. Highlight of the day… the gazpacho from the Sante Fe Trailer, absolutely ridiculous. Letdown of the day… the watermelon pork tacos… but I guess that could have been predicted just by the name. All in all, the T.O.M. was a gluttonous highlight of the summer.

What do you do after eating that much food? You go for a hike. Where does one go “hiking” in the flatlands of Wisconsin? Devil’s Lake, of course. When you first arrive to Madison, one of the most common questions you receive is, “Have you been to Devil’s Lake yet?” It’s definitely a ‘thing’ that people do, and I had avoided it for nearly two years. So, it went down on the calendar as a must, and we were off. There is something like 30 miles of trails in the area, so I mapped out the trail here, which was a cool 8 miles loop. We started on the north side of the lake at the Park Headquarters and followed the Johnson Morraine to Upland to East Bluff to Balanced Rock to the Boardwalk to the West Bluffs trails to get back to the car. Now, all was well and good, and in fact quite easy on the hike, until that 0.4 mile stretch known as ‘Balance Rock Trail,’ which is about a 500-700 foot vertical straight down a pile of rocks. It was a good time overall, and the minute we got back to the car… it started raining. Devil’s Lake: check.

One thing I like best about the end of summer is that there is a great overlap in sports. Baseball gets more intense as the playoffs approach, college and professional football starts, and the other two minor leagues of the NBA and NHL also get underway. Thus my story of the Super Sports Weekend. It all begins on Saturday morning, where the University of Wisconsin Badgers played San Jose State for their home opener (2nd game of the season), and won handily. (I’m not sure if I’ve ever used the word ‘handily’ before… moving on.) When that ended, 3G, Ross and others got together at my place for an impromptu barbecue to watch the Ohio State game... good times were had, yet we had to leave before the game was over to get on the highway… no problem though, the satellite radio had the remainder of the game in which OSU won… you guessed it, handily. Why the highway? Well, the best thing to do on an SSW Saturday night is to go sit in the box at the Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park, naturally. The box was very convenient, because a) free food and beer is key, and b) the television in the suite also had the PSU vs. Alabama game of the week on. That’s four games sports that were avidly watched, two live, all within 12 hours. Now, most people would say, “That’s plenty of sports for me,” but not me, not during this SSW. I was up by 6am to get in the car and head downtown to watch the start of the Ironman Triathlon. Yeah… my SSW had a triathlon in it… win. It was the second year in a row that I was down by Lake Menona to see 2,000 people start swimming at once, and it was just as intense, and certainly worth the sleepy-eyed efforts. Now, how does one top all of that? One gets in a plane, and flies it. Bingo. I was off to Mike-Sierra-November to take N95787 up in the air. It was an incredible day, and after some take off and landing practice with my instructor Tina, I took the plane solo up to Lake Wisconsin to just enjoy the smooth and traffic-less air of a Sunday morning. Now, to finish off the SSW, I headed home to enjoy a commanding victory of the New England Patriots over the Cincinnati Bungles. Ahhh, the sweet victory of your favorite NFL team… that’s a finale… and so concluded the SSW.

Summer is fun, and there is plenty to do, but how do you really explode, Jimmy? Well, you get on a plane and go to San Diego for the reuniting of Dojo Joe. That’s right… The Doj was back in the studio in mid September, in the new and improved location in Mission Hills. Now, in the previous Pacific Beach (PB) location, Dojo Joe was known to simply walk into local establishments and explode. This time around… boom. Aero Bar… out of Springbank 10 year… you’re welcome. Menomena… “Don’t suck, okay?”… you’re welcome. Señor Koteeha’s… “Carne Asada, stat”… love, the Doj. Now, none of that makes sense, and that’s okay, because what is important is that there is music, a lot of it, and it’s coming to an ear on the side of your head soon.

Now, what is number one in life? Family. Fact. So, who shows up to close out the month of September but Keith and Kristen Menslage of Southie and Tewksbury fame. That’s right, K&K came storming into Madison for their first ever visit. 48 hours of insanity… and GO: Hi guys, welcome to Madison, let’s go do everything. Alchemy, Mickey’s, Old Fashioned, Wasabi, Chautara, High Noon (Menomena), shrimp cocktail and brats for ‘tailgate breakfast’, Regent Street (Lucky’s & tower game), Badgers school record of 70 points on Austin Peay (first and 10 Wisconsin), The Weary Traveler, Sardine, Willy Street Fair (pictured), and back to the airport. DONE.

And that’s how you do it… summer 2010. Good times.

2010-08-19T09:56:00.004-04:00

So… I went flying last night… solo. I was supposed to do a 'night flight' with my instructor Tina, but she was on a charter flight and said, "Why don't you go alone up to the practice area!" Well… I've never flown far enough from the airport where it was lost from view, so there was some hesitation… but I was pretty excited to get it done. I mapped it out, checked out the landmarks I would look for, prepped the plane, got my clearance, and off I went. It was great. I was planning to fly towards Prairie du Sac when some traffic was going to be in my way (the benefits of having a Tower in the airspace to let you know you're about to run into someone), so I headed north along the highway until Lake Wisconsin and then turned west right towards the sun while I did some practice maneuvers. First maneuver… slow flight… dropped the power, pitched the nose up, put out full flaps and flew at around 50 knots, and did some turns… sort of a boring but important aspect in your ability to control an airplane. I then cranked the power back up, pulled the flaps back in, and did some steep turns… which are fun, because you bank the thing at about 40-45 degrees and do a 360… it's awesome to feel some G's in a Cessna. I did two of those to the left, and one to the right. I'm not as good at the ones to the right. Gotta work on 'em. I then cranked the power up and went up to 100 knots cruising speed towards 'Sauk Prarie' (that's what the airport is called at Prairie du Sac), before turning around and calling Madison approach for a return to the airport. Once I crossed into MSN airspace (around Dane), I went over to the tower frequency and asked for some 'touch & go's' to practice landing. I did two of them on Runway 21, then one on runway 18 for some 'crosswind' practice (wind was about 5kts from 220 degrees), and finally a full stop as the sun set on 21 before heading back to the East Ramp to tie ol' N91HL down. Overall, it was a great experience, as I was doing maneuvers and utilizing charts all on my own, which is a milestone in my book.

Good times!

2010-07-24T13:57:00.008-04:00

“Hey Ray, what did you do last weekend?” … “Everything.” Yes, that’s right, I did everything. Madison, Wisconsin has summer down to a science, and the parents came into town for an extended weekend to see what it was all about. Now, beyond one quick visit in March of ’09 to drop off some furniture, the family hasn’t been out here to see all that Madison has to offer, and it really wasn’t until this summer season that I knew everything that was going on… and now that I do… we did everything.

Ma & Pa landed on Thursday afternoon in Madison on a gorgeous day. Some and some beers out on the patio to shake off the travel started things off… and then, it was time for America’s past time… minor league Baseball. We headed off to see “Your Madison Mallards!” at Warner Park. Now, I had been to one game last summer, and it was rained out by the 2nd inning… and the park was basically empty. So, my expectations as to the ‘fun factor’ were certainly subdued as to how this would turn out, but you gotta keep the ‘rents entertained. Well… a few things has the stars align. 1) It was a gorgeous night. 75 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, slight breeze. 2) It was bobble-head night. Turns out, Madison goes koo koo for Maynard the Mallard bobble-heads. The first 1,000 people into the park received them… I’m guessing we missed them by about 5,000 people. The place was mobbed. Kids: everywhere. Beer guys: everywhere. Perfect. We walked around to the right field section known as ‘The Duck Blind.’ At $36 per ticket, you might be thinking… hey, that’s a little steep. One catch, in ‘The Duck Blind,’ it’s all you can eat, and all you can drink. And, just as you would expect in Wisconsin, there are 18 different beers on tap, half of them being local microbrews. Money’s worth? Check.

Friday was another absurdly gorgeous day, but the heat really started to pour on. No worries, we’re from New Hampshire… we ummm, are used to it? Err, not so much. So, the parents and I headed to State Street for Maxwell Street Days. Now, I was unfamiliar with this little phenomenon last year, but apparently on this [in]famous walking street all of the vendors bring their goods outside and put on crazy sales. A bit of lunch at Kabul, everyone’s favorite Afghani restaurant (What? When you think Madison, WI, you think Afghani, right?), and then we were at the end of State Street. Now, when you’re at the end of State Street, you generally have two options… walk back up, or go to the Union Terrace and have a beer. So… there we were, having a beer… good times… but, what are we going to do tonight? … *Ring* “Hello, American Players Theater,” … “Yeah, can we get four tickets for tonight’s show?” … and then three hours later, there we were, sitting in the four row at the American Players Theater in Spring Green, WI, watching an incredible performance of As You Like It. I rate the experience a “must” in the terms of things to do in/around Madison, WI.

Now, if you recall the not so happy August 2009 post of my grandfather passing away last summer, you may also recall the fact that he was a pilot. It was a few months later that I decided the family needed another pilot. Well, the stars aligned for this weekend, as I had completed enough hours in the plane, demonstrated enough skills to be proficient, and on a day when my parents were in town, at the airport, I completed my first solo flight. Yes, that’s right… I flew a plane… into the air… by myself. I went made three take off and landings, and then came in for a big hug from my instructor Tina, and of course my mom. My grandfather passed away on July 28, 2009, and I was flew solo by July 17, 2010… less than a year. Here’s a video (I’m a bit of a speck at first, but it ends well):

With a few gallons of adrenaline pumping through my body, we took the remainder of the morning and headed to the Farmer’s Market on the Capital Square. I know I’ve written about the market before, but it again is a “must” in the realm of Madison experiences. It is eight blocks of vegetables, fruits, cheeses, vegetables, meats, breads, vegetables, herbs, and vegetables. With some artwork, theatrical entertainment, and the random activist thrown in there… you’ve got to see it to believe it. We followed up what was becoming a scorching day with a stop in a the new restaurant Francesca’s (they’re working on getting in down), a stroll through the Monona Terrace, and then a drive around town to show my dad that there are in fact some shady parts of Madison (he was convinced it was too nice to be true… and thus, South Park Street).

Once it had cooled down enough, we headed over to the Olbrich Gardens. The last time my parents had come to town, we visited Olbrich as well, but this time everything was in full bloom. We walked through the observatory where they were having a butterfly ‘event,’ and then walked through the gardens. I had never strolled through there, but it turned out to be massive. There were gardens with fountains, a Thai garden with a giant golden pavilion, rose gardens, another garden that was setup for a wedding (poor people, it was easily 95 degrees out), and more. It was great to see, and by the end of it… we were toast… literally, lightly toasted by the sun.

That evening, I grilled up some goodness before we headed out to the Up North Pub only to find out that Boo Bradley had cancelled. Booooooooo Boo Bradley. Instead, we headed over to Magnus, a favorite lounge of mine, to have our faces melted off by Andreas Kapsalis and Goran Ivanovic on classical guitars. Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it. We were fortunate to snag some seats up at the front when a few people left between sets, and despite the closer vantage point… their fingers were a mere blur. It really was incredible. There is playing guitar, and then there whatever the hell these guys were doing. I’d suggest you check out their website and see if their coming to your town.

Now it was Sunday, and we had done everything that was on the list of things to do and had an entire 24 hours left! There were only a few things in the world that could get us motivated on another scorching hot day after 72 hours of non-stop action… and one of those things was beer. We drove to New Glarus, about an hour south of Madison, to the New Glarus Brewery. We arrived and were told that the tour was ‘free’… umm, okay… and turns out the ‘tour’ is actually just us walking around in their brewery. The lady at the desk suggested that we buy a pint of beer and make the walk, and see if we could find ‘Scott’ to answer our questions. This normal, riiiiight. So, we grabbed a couple of pints and headed into the brewery. Sure enough, after about 5 minutes of wandering around, a big dude with a shirt embroidered with the name Scott walks by with about 5 people and says, “Hey, if you wanna join us so I don’t lose my voice by the end of the day, we’re gonna walk through the brewery.” Umm, sure thing, ‘Scott.’ Easily, one of the better brewery tours I’ve ever had. Perfect level of detail, funny guy, actually worked in the production line there, and had us through in about 20 minutes. We had another beer out in the Biergarten before heading back to Madison.

We wound down the weekend with a drive and walk through the arboretum, and a relaxing dinner and movie back at home. My parents were off on Monday… only to have their flight cancelled and stayed an extra night before leaving at 5:40am on Tuesday. So, there was some hassle right at the end, but it couldn’t harm the experience of an incredible weekend. Good times… go there, try that.

2010-06-10T12:12:00.008-04:00

The British Virgin Islands… “Nature’s Little Secrets” as their license plates declare, provided the backdrop to Memorial Day weekend’s good times. Back in January or February, there was a group of us contacted by B. Knightly about taking advantage of the long weekend by sailing in the Caribbean. Before I had finished reading the email, I had already replied “I’m in.” And so, as time does fly, it was upon us by late May.

Peter J and I hopped an early flight out of Milwaukee on May 26th, and bounced through Atlanta to get to St. Thomas. There are few things like the smack-in-the-face humidity of walking off a flight in the Caribbean, and the low pressure system that had all of the islands baked into a thick cloudy fog made the humidity in the air somewhere in the high 90th percentile. Only one way to beat the heat: a Painkiller… everyone’s favorite dark rum, coconut, and nutmeg concoction. We boarded the ferry to Tortola after filling out our life history on the BVI customs declaration card, and were in Road Town within the hour. Now, the first thing you notice about Road Town, which is the capital of the BVI on the largest island Tortola, is that it is a bit smaller and less built up than Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas in the USVI. Rustic... good times.

The first night was at Maria’s by the Sea… a convenient walk from the Ferry Dock, and squeezed onto Road Town’s ugly waterfront area next to the BVI government building. The people: incredibly pleasant. The room: air-conditioned… win-win. One other member of the group also showed up a day early and was staying at the Moorings, where the boat was to be chartered from, so Peter J and I hopped a taxi to go around the harbor. The taxi driver happened to be Jack Randolph (per his card), and he happened to be completely blind at night, and it happened to be night. He drove 5 mph, through Road Town, with cars beeping at us and driving around us, for 25 minutes, on what was easily a 5 minute ride. Amazing.

A quick introduction to fellow sailor Dr. Ned, pizza at the Moorings restaurant known as “Charlie’s,” which by 5 different people on the island opened up at five different spans of months or even years ago, and a tour of the docks holding the hundred or so catamarans and single-hulled sailboats. And we were ready to party. “Where’s the party at tonight?” we offered up to Jeffrey, the bartender of choice at Charlie’s. “’ey, da bat cave, mon.” … yes, I love the islands. I’m not going to say anything too exciting happened at the Bat Cave, beyond Dr. Ned getting involved with the private party’s buffet… yeah, don’t touch that… but there was a need to restock the Red Stripe once we left.

Cast off day: 8 crates of boat provisions showed up at our dock on the rainy day that we were to cast off. Dr. Ned, Peter J, and I managed to get all of the goods onto the boat in the hundreds of hideaway compartments, along with filling three or four coolers of beer and ice. Just as we finished the loading of the boat, the remaining 7 guys showed up… and… Boom.

Because of the inclement weather, we left the boat in Road Town harbor and took a taxi to the north side of the island for Bomba’s Full Moon Party; a shack on the north side of the island known for debauchery and good times. It was good times yet fairly tame, as the rain kept many partygoers away. Two highlights came from the evening… the first was when I was standing at the bar and introduced myself to a couple of fellow revelers, and they asked if I was part of “The Ten.” Ahh, here for 12 hours and we already have a nickname… this is working well. The second would be the most insane taxi ride in a 15 passenger van through the hills of Tortola. This guy clearly worked on tips, and possibly had a death wish. Here’s $5, now never pick us up again.

Set the course for Virgin Gorda! We were off the next morning… around noon… most of the other boats had already left; this would become a theme. We headed straight for the south western tip of Virgin Gordo to ‘The Baths’… a rock formation of boulders that extend from the island into the ocean and make for great snorkeling. Done and done… let’s get some drinks. First stop was at the Bitter End Yacht Club on North Sound. Painkillers, a game of pool, some dark & stormy’s… etc. Good times were had. Let’s get some food. We sailed across North Sound to Leverick Bay, and docked up for the evening. “Man, I’m hungry… I could eat a whole pig.” … How convenient… a pig roast. We consumed a massive amount of food that was set out for the proceeding day’s Leverick Bay Poker Run, and then headed over to the bar to watch the Celtics defeat Orlando to get into the NBA Finals. There was much rejoicing. Virgin Gorda… for the win.

The next morning… err… afternoon… err, whatever, daylight. We fired up the boat and headed to the north side of Tortola. Cane Garden Bay was our destination for the BVI Music Festival. We arrived into port in our typical style. 10 dudes, standing on the front of a 50 foot catamaran with beers in hand, and rap music blaring out the back… a good “We’re here!” shout out to the other 50 or so boats already moored and peacefully relaxing. How about the closest mooring to shore? Sure. We headed to land to get some drinks, some food, and recharge… check. Back to the boat for food… check. Back to land for the Music Festival… check. We entered, and who do we see at the first bar in the place? Jeffrey! ‘Ey Mon! ‘Ey Rude Boys! Coronas! ‘ow many, mon?! All of them! … fact: with Iyaz and Nina Sky playing on the stage, and Jeffrey’s bar being the only one with a TV showing the Lakers vs. Phoenix game, we drank the BVI Music Festival out of Coronas.

The next daylight… we left after many of the boats had already made their departure from Cane Garden Bay. We headed northward to a small uninhabited island called Sandy Cay that has some solid snorkeling, and a ridiculous beach. We were all moving fairly slow at this point, but after Marlin (our fearless and infinitely patient Jamaican captain) told us “Don’t kill da beach, rude boys” we got back on the boat and headed for Jost Van Dyke. It didn’t take long to get to White Bay, and get a couple of Painkillers in our hands at the Soggy Dollar Bar. This time, we did kill the beach… and any pain that may have existed. That evening, we went around the point to Great Harbour, anchored, ate, and went to Foxy’s. We had made some friends at the Soggy Dollar, and we had drinks with many of them, but the heat was unbearable that evening, and we played it somewhat low-key. “Somewhat.”

Daylight! The pattern that exists in the previous paragraphs repeats itself again! Late start, snorkeling, beach bar, food, party. We left JVD, and headed south towards the western point of Tortola. We swung into Sopers Hole across from the Tortola West End Ferry stop to stock up on our dwindling goods of hydration and beers. Benny picked up a whole mess of chicken as well, which proved to be an excellent idea by the time the evening came. We continued on our way towards Norman Island, and stopped by The Indians rock formation for some excellent snorkeling. Deep waters, lots of fish, an underwater cave to swim through, and fire coral! Wait… fire coral? Holy crap, why is my arm burning. Oh god, make it stop, make it stop. Oh man, shouldn’t have touched that. “Marlin! What do I do? It’s burning.” … “Poor some rum on it, general.” … MMmmmm, rum. Better now. Or maybe just numbed. Yes, I touched fire coral… and yes… it burns.

Okay, let’s see where we’re at on the daily checklist. Wake up, yes, snorkel, yes, ahhh here were are, drinking time. And, where else but to the (in)famous site of The William Thornton… better known as “Willy T’s”. There, we met the owner of The Quiet Mon pub, which was just written up in June’s Esquire magazine as one of the best bars in America, and we also had a libation or two… or three. We finished the evening on our own boat anchored in ‘The Bight’ nearby Willy T’s. Benny’s spicy chicken was a feast, and there was much rejoicing.

The boat was moving by the time we woke up on Tuesday. We were headed back to Road Town, Tortola and we had a deadline to make. Some of the guys had noon time flights out of the Beef Island Airport, and somehow, someway, they made it there. Nice work gentlemen. Peter J and I returned to Maria’s by the Sea for an extra evening in town. Being on land wasn’t feeling any better than the sea... but some food, some sleep and a ferry ride back to St. Thomas helped us get back to Wisconsin in one piece.

Good times.

2010-05-24T13:31:00.007-04:00

The adventures of ‘property management’ were in full swing in early May. I headed back to the old homestead in Cambridge, Massachusetts for a work weekend with the other owners of the Cardinal Medeiros property. As the owner of the top floor, but being far away in the Midwest, you have two major concerns… are my tenants ruining my home, and are the other owners/tenants ruining the building. Fortunately for me, I have the greatest tenants on the planet Earth, and now fortunate for the entire building, we have new owners of the first floor who are very engaged in the condo matters and willing to help out to drive great value in the building.

Therefore… bring on the ‘Spring Work Weekend.’ I flew into Boston on Thursday night, upgraded the Hertz rental to a new Cadillac SXT, and drove up to Tewksbury where Kristen and Keith have recently bought a new home. Now, they used to live in Southie, which basically meant there was a direct tunnel from Logan to their home… but now it’s 37 minutes away. C’est la vie… can’t have it all. That being said, their new home is excellent… and it beats staying on the couch downstairs in the old apartment. Day one I was off to Home Depot by 6:30am, and at the homestead by 8. The external work was by far the focus for me this weekend, and 9am was the first drop off of 3 yards of mulch. The issue with having a home in Cambridge, MA, the fifth most densely populated city in the US (yes, look it up), is that there is no ‘yard’ necessarily to dump 3 yards of mulch. Thus, the sidewalk was the location, and blocking it completely off to pedestrian traffic was the result. Since I was alone at this point, I was hustling wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of the fine smelling ground hemlock to different areas of the property. Within two hours, I had completely dispersed the mulch into smaller piles ready to be spread. Good times.

A bit of pruning, some weeding, etc., consumed the rest of the morning until the second floor owners arrived just afternoon to help out. I’m glad they did, because the mulch was one thing, but 3 tons of stone (yes, 3 tons), was a whole different challenge. That pile, once again to the surprise/concern of the delivery guy, ended up right on the sidewalk again. Have you ever moved 3 tons of stone by hand? I hadn’t, until May 7th, 2010. Add on to that the fact that we decided to pull up the broken concrete sidewalk that was on the side of our building, made for a backbreaking afternoon. One of those days where you go to bed and know you ran until empty.

Alas, the results were excellent. The yard hasn’t looked this good since before I purchased my top floor, and it will not need much work for quite some time. Other work, such as the cleaning out of the basement, the ‘inverting’ of the basement insulation that was installed incorrectly (a horrible job), and installing some new under cabinet lighting in my unit rounded out the remainder of the work weekend. And finally, as an added bonus, it was Mother’s Day… and Mom & Dad came down to Kristen & Keith’s house, and Sunday was spent with the family on a chilly, but gorgeous day. New England… you are my home.

2010-05-19T17:44:00.007-04:00

Let's talk economics, shall we? My dad wrote me a quick email question:

So what do you think about potash prices. The stock prices are down and it may be a time to buy. I haven't looked at why they're down but this may be an opportunity judging from your earlier comments.

Well Dad... here are my thoughts:

The main agriculture stocks that are out there are POT, SYT, MON, CPO, DAR, DD, AVD, MOS, IPI, AGU, and CF. POT, MOS, IPI, and CF have some direct 'exposure' to Potash specifically. They are all down ~50% across the board on average from the 2008 commodity boom. I currently own Syngenta, but that's because they create genetically modified crops, and are based out of Switzerland... and you know me... I like to ruin the farming industry though Nazi gold financing... umm, right (joking around with a neutral countries shady war past... always fun). I also own DAR.

So... there is only one question to ask: will commodity pricing go up, or down during a given timeline? Take POT for instance... in 2006, their stock price was between $35 and $45... while today they are at $100. Overall, their revenues in 2009 were the same as 2006, but they had ~40% higher Net Income... great cost controls, etc. gave them good leverage and will right into 2010. Their 1Q10 results were up 86% (thus the higher stock price... and P/E of 32 vs. industry around 20). They've got low debt, they make money, and thus they trade at a bit of a premium... but still the question remains... commodities up, or down? ... here's a fun tool to get you started: http://money.cnn.com/data/commodities/

I must admit, it's a weird market... if potash / phosphate / etc. becomes rare, fertilizer prices go up, corn/wheat/soy would go up as well. The "lag effect" I'll call it. Or... corn/wheat/soy demand goes up which means pricing does, which means more production to take advantage, which means higher fertilizer demand, and thus higher prices... the "pull through effect." So... ultimately, we have to look both ends from a global perspective.

"Lag Effect"

Is there a shortage of phosphate? Morocco possesses 75 percent of the world's phosphate reserves. It is the world's first exporter (~30% of the global market) and third producer (~20% of global production). If they move, the market moves, and will effect these businesses. Is there any major socio-political issue occurring in Morocco? Well, a quick Google search of the latest Morocco news shows that religious conservatives aren't happy about the Elton John concert in Rabat... I'll take that as a "no problems here" sort of situation. There are a number of articles about the 'phosphate shortage' in 2008 during 'holy crap the world is overheating' time... but the news really died off in 2009/2010. I would say "no," simply on the terms of any real concerns of phosphate shortages would be a much bigger concern for the world food supply, and you simply never hear about it.
Is there a shortage of potash? Since Potash is the fertilizer form of Potassium, and Potassium (K) is the 7th most abundant element on earth... ummm, no, probably not.
Do I think a shortage of raw materials for fertilizer is going to drive us up the supply/demand curve? No, I do not.

"Pull Through Effect"

Is there an increase in demand/production forecasted for US agriculture? According to the Jim Hilker, professor and MSU economist at the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics Michigan State University, in his May 11, 2010 (last week) report on Commodity Market Outlook... "no." https://www.msu.edu/~hilker/outlook.htm ... For the US he's telling the US farmers to sign up for Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) 'insurance' to combat a likely weakening in the $/Bushel for corn / soy... while Wheat may have a slight increase.
Is there an increase in demand/production forecasted for Rest of World (ROW)? According to the USDA's May 11, 2010 review of the Global Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates (which our buddy Jimmy from MSU used in his write up), not so much. They say "global wheat supplies for 2010/11 are projected 2 percent higher with larger year-to-year beginning stocks more than offsetting lower expected production." Okee doke... so less production = less fertilizer = less potash. How about corn/coarse grains? "Global coarse grain production for 2010/11 is projected at a record 1,129.8 million tons, up 2 percent from 2009/10. Most of the 27.4-million-ton increase in coarse grains production results from higher projected foreign corn production, up 19.9 million tons from 2009/10."... in other words, yeah, sorta.
Overall... the pull through isn't going to be dramatic. The industry won't "pop" because someone didn't realize a billion people existed in a given region of the world. They've got that pretty well figured out.

Now, the last thing... currency. This part is fun, and in my mind, is the real driver. The US Dollar is the currency of choice for commodity trading. So, let's think about what our friend the USD has done in the last 3 years, and compare it to Oil and Corn. The first chart is the US Dollar Index from out friends at Deutsche Bank, for which I believe they closed the fund at the end of March 2009, which is why the graph doesn't continue. A USD Index is generally calculated from the value of the Dollar versus other major currencies (Euro, Yen, Real, etc.). The second chart, is also from our Deutsche Bank buddies, with the same 1Q09 end date, but it is the value of Oil during the same period. And lastly, the 3rd chart is the CORN electronically traded fund (ETF) from the London FTSE, where futures in Corn commodities are indexed. This one is still actively traded, but I cut it off at the end of 1Q09 to show the same scale. So, let's take a look (courtesy of screen shots of http://finance.google.com/):

The Deutsche Bank US Dollar Index: (USDUPX.X)
Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Crude Oil Index (DBOLIX.X)
ETFS CORN (CORN)
I suppose if you have eyes, you're seeing what I'm seeing. But, let's state the obvious anyway. Sometime around... errr, middle of 2008... the USD Index was at its absolute lowest, while the Oil and Corn indexes were at their (say it with me), "highest." A little think we'll call "inverse correlation." Dollar goes down, commodities go up... and vice versa. Mmm, okay, that's cool, but what about 2010? Didn't we just experience a global reset and dramatic change in global economics? Well, let me tell you a little story: Our friend the US Dollar was weak... weak for a long time. And what do bullies do to someone else who is weak, especially to someone who used to be the bigger bully? You pile on. You pile on like there is no tomorrow. You come out and say "Hey, I might trade my trillion dollars in my reserves for Euros." Or "Look at your trade deficit, you need all of our help, so how can we rely on you?" Well, that's exactly what the Chinese, Russian, and Euro finance ministers did. How sweet they are. But, just like any bully, they weren't thinking of longer term consequences. Oil was just shy of 50% of our trade deficit in 2008... and rightly so, because the US Dollar pseudo-pegged Oil price are... you remember, right?... "inversely correlated." So, every report that came out where the trade deficit widened, the US Dollar would drop further in value, and then oil would go up, and then we'd pay more, and the trade deficit would widen, and so on, and so on. This was widely reported by intelligent economists like Martin Feldstein (http://www.nber.org/feldstein/), et. al., but the news media and global market paranoia were no match for their "reason," and the dollar kept on dropping and the commodities kept on climbing. But alas, the words of enough economists and that always reliable "supply and demand" curve prevailed, and everyone realized that there was not a global spike in oil demand, nor were the bullies going to be taking any significant actions on ditching our beat-up but breathing friend the USD. Then, to everyone's (read: no one's) surprise, the only major currency created at the height of unprecedented economic prosperity yet with no emergency stop loss or reserve structures, that new kid on the block, the EURO, began to falter in March of 2010. Ruh roh. In come the "PIGS"... Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain... and man do they stink. Ireland has overvalued real estate issues similar to the US, and Greece, Spain, and Portugal simply can't handle a stronger currency and overspent when they magically went from having 15%+ interest/borrowing rates to 5-8% with the Euro. So, the Euro finance ministers get together, say "Look, we've got a trillion dollars, everybody relax." Except, that doesn't solve the issue, and the flavor, ahem, currency of the decade, begins to drop. So, the world scrambles in the last few weeks, and says "Which one do I use?" Well, the Yen hasn't been favored since the original Nintendo came out, the Yuan is controlled by the next economy to realize it's overheating (Ni hao, China), the UK is probably in worse shape than the Eurozone, and the rest of the players are too small and/or unstable. So, they look back to the USD and still see some issues, but a few come crawling back. Thus, the increase in the dollar value in the last few months. (WARNING: It's not 'all the way' back, but the extreme weakening of the Euro makes it appear to have come back more than it actually has... why? Beware of that "false positive" in US Dollar Indexes... most Indexes are calculated with >50% EURO comparison, and its the only one having a big issue). What's the next logical choice if not the USD? Gold, baby, gold. Where has Gold gone? Up. 8% in the last month... 30% in the last year. It's great for 'currency protection' sure, but there is a reason why they call gold "gold" and dollars/euros/etc. "currency"... because one flows more easily than the other. Eventually, the global economy will pick a currency to do business with, and the story will continue. So, with the continuing issues of the Euro, the overheating Yuan, the unloved Yen, and the troubled Pound... yes, I believe the dollar will stage a stabilized and slow recovery.

And therefore, due to a fairly well bottomed out dollar, my prediction of its slow recovery, the inverse correlation of the USD to commodity pricing, and the lack of any "lag" or "pull through" effects of supply and demand within the agricultural sector, I am NOT bullish on potash/fertilizer stocks. They are certainly lower in valuation compared to the past couple of years, but on a more historic "2000-2006" basis, there is nothing to say that the fundamentals of the industry warrant a buying spree. There are other factors (i.e. gold being overpriced, but people want to play in commodities, etc.), that could drive some changes in the market, so if you want some exposure into the fertilizer/agriculture market, I would suggest an underweight investment and expect to hold for at least a year.

My $0.02... and naturally, no guarantees.

2010-04-30T11:10:00.006-04:00

April showers bring… good times. The temperature broke 70ºF and things started getting crazy. Now, an interesting thing about living here in Wisconsin for a second round of summer is being able to witness the palpable anticipation that comes when the snow finally melts away. Some people around here legitimately “lose their sh*t.” And who can blame them? Winter in the upper Midwest is horrible for so many reasons, and to know that the opposite of what ails you is just around the corner, well… it can get a little crazy. So… let’s take a look at the ‘signs of spring.’

Baseball! Oh yes, it’s back. Something about when baseball starts up, you know winter is over… and when the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the League home opener… man, what a way to fire it up. They promptly began to lose and drop to nearly the bottom of the America League East, Papi began to suck immediately, and the top three pitchers for the year (Lackey, Beckett, and Lester) all gained ERAs over 5… but hey, it’s Baseball season! Live baseball is also fun, and so I made sure to get over to opening week for the Brewers, as they handled the Rockies easily for their second game of the season. Ellen, Pete, Krista and I got some great seats on the 2nd deck behind homeplate. In the first inning, I was talking with Pete and a foul ball landed only a few feet away from us… looking around, we then realized we were a) above the protective net, and b) in prime foul ball territory. We didn’t go home with an souvenirs, but it definitely made us pay a little more attention to the game. Brewers win… 7 to 5.

What else starts in the spring? Wedding season. The first of which was my cousin Brad’s. He lives in LA, and the wedding was up near Sacramento; California or bust. I had never been to Sacramento, and if you want to go visit, I’d recommend against it. I’ve been around the world a couple of times, and Sacramento (especially downtown near the capital building), is a rundown town. “Oh, but how bad can it really be, it’s the capital of California?!” … well, how about a murder crime scene a block away from the capital building… you know, no biggie, just a little homicide… pretty typical. Either way, it’s got its nice suburbs, but I can’t say much else for it. The good times were had with the entire family coming out to see the nuptials. Kiera, the newest member of my extended family, is incredible… and fits in well with the clan. Beyond the wedding, the family was able to get out and see all of what Sacramento has to offer… here’s a picture of us in front of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office. I don’t think that will ever sound right. (You may notice a stuffed monkey in these pictures… you’re not seeing things… it was the mascot of the trip, which actually continued for the rest of the week in Wine country for my parents, Kristen, and Keith… I, headed back to Madison for work).

10 years ago, I joined a fraternity known as Tau Epsilon Phi at Clarkson University… and when you start hitting milestones such as this… you get the band back together. The ‘F2K10 Reunion Tour’ hit Pensacola Beach, Florida for one weekend only… mainly due to work schedules, lack of funds, and older bodies. But we came, we fished, we conquered. Five of the nine guys were able to make it, so we had a simple majority to declare the rest of them lame who could make it (some were legitimate, some could have lied better). I showed up on Friday afternoon, and the Miller’s Brewhouse sounded like a good idea for lunch. One thing led to another, and it was very difficult to get up at 5:30am to go fishing. Nonetheless, we were off to hop aboard the Chulamar and head out into the Gulf. (This was all pre-Oil spill, so we may be the last people to fish in the Gulf… ever.) We headed 17 miles offshore… and with a hangover… my god… I didn’t think it was going to work out, but the seas were calm, the sun was perfect, and the breeze was warm. Anything else, and I’d have been chumming the waters. We stopped near a wreck, and dropped our lines… and would you know it, the first time I pull up the line, 2 fish on it. Yes, we had two hooks on the lines, but who catches two fish, honestly? Next line down? 2 more fish. There was a crazy lady on the boat, which always makes for some great unintentional comedy, and she started calling me ‘double trouble’… excellent. So, we continued to fish, and fish, and fish. By the time we got back… we easily had 60 fish. What do you do with 60 fish? Well, you do a Ray’s Famous Fish Fry for one, and two, you have Carl go to the grocery store, get some dry ice, and have him take it home… funny looks from flight attendants at no extra charge. In all, it was a great time to get back together with the guys, and I hope to make that happen in a little less than a decade for the next rendezvous. (You may notice an old man with a fish head on a line… we caught a Red Snapper, the line was being pulled hard… then it suddenly got very light… but when it was reeled in, there was only this left on the line with a row of shark’s teeth in the skin… also, the old man was not a fraternity brother of mine, as cool as that might have been.)

And so… there were times, and they were good.

2010-03-31T09:49:00.002-04:00

How’s that saying go? In like a lion, out like lamb? The month of March followed the adage pretty closely really. Frozen lakes, snow, and freezing temperatures have all been replaced by bare lawns, sunny days, and a little daylight savings to make the days stretch a little longer. It was a good month… and April should only get better.

March started out with a weeklong staff meeting in Madison. For those of you unfamiliar with staff meetings, they lend themselves occasionally to determining a long-term strategy for a business, getting everyone globally on the same page, help team camaraderie, etc. So… to help build that team camaraderie, there’s normally an event to get everyone together for a little friendly competition. Our event? Curling. 2nd place… Ray’s team.

Now… let’s turn the fun meter up. What do you do when your friend Model G says, “Let’s go to a basketball game… and sit really close.” You go… and sit really close. Forget west side… forget east side… go courtside. That’s right, Ellen, being as awesome as she is, invited me to come see the Celtics play the Bucks. There were plenty of Celtics fans in the house, but the hapless C’s couldn’t pull off a win. And yes, Kevin Garnett is as scary as you think he is.

The next day, it was time to go to Sweden again. I hadn’t been to Sweden since the first week of October, and a trip back was definitely due. So, I pack up my bags, head to the airport and for the first time in my life have a flight cancelled on me where I cannot get out that same day. The cause? Fog. Honestly… in like a lion… damn fog. So, I went to Barnes & Noble in the afternoon, grabbed a couple of books including Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and As I Lay Dying by ol’ Billy Faulkner. The latter there is a bit heavy, but the ‘stream of consciousness writing style makes for a good read. That said, I hopped the plane the next day to Sweden, and was in the office by 11am on Friday morning. Saturday was one of the nicest days in Sweden… the weather was a little warmer, the sun was out, March was showing is ‘lambness’, and I was in the office. That’s all good though, because you don’t fly across the Atlantic to just take the weekend off… well, unless that’s what you’re flying across the Atlantic for.

The trip to Sweden ended with some great work accomplished by the team there, and of course dinner at La Terrazza. It was time to get back to the states though, because March Madness was about to start. I was able to make it to the second round games in Milwaukee on Sunday to watch Ohio St. take down Georgia Tech in an extremely boring game, followed up by Xavier beating Pitt in what was a much more exciting game. I’m glad the second game was close, otherwise I can’t say I’d be rushing back to the NCAA tournament to watch it live. There’s something about a sports bar with multiple games on, and the face that NCAA does not serve an alcoholic beverages at its events that make me think my money is better spent at BW3’s.

As far as pilot training… I’m getting close to soloing. Which, yes, means I get to take my ‘lawnmower with wings’ Cessna 152 into the air by myself. That could be April’s project…

2010-02-28T23:04:00.000-05:00

The day-by-day play-by-play…

Jan 30… I spent most of the day in the air, but landed in Israel in a dust/sand storm of all things. I grabbed the rental car from Ben Gurion’s Hertz with Mr. Bill Phelan and was off the Tel Aviv Hilton. Now, I’ve always stayed up in Herzliya, but this time we changed it up to stay in Tel Aviv… thus, I got lost. In the ghetto. With Bill Phelan.

Jan 31… jet lag. Need… more… coffee. Mmmm… sort of… kosher breakfast. To the office! We kicked off the operating reviews and got right down to business.

Feb 2… yeah, sure, let’s go in here. Aaaaand this would be an underground hip-hop club in Tel Aviv. Believe it… here’s a video clip. Okay, clearly not fitting in here… where to? Nanuchka! One more visit and I’ll be a regular there.

Feb 3… you know what I need? I need more falafel. A ton of it… and here it is, from my favorite place in Tel Mond. You know, one of the more interesting aspects of Israel is that the infrastructure is fairly poor everywhere, and so that “ease of use” and or “approachableness” (spell check says that’s a word) of U.S. restaurants is immediately out the window… so the best food you can find, are in these small shack type things by the road. Diamonds in the rough… mmm, falafel diamonds.

Feb 4… get on a plane.

Feb 5… land.

Feb 6… fly my own plane. Well… my rented plane, but either way… I was able to finally get back up in the air after not flying for nearly two full months. What was the lesson?
Emergencies. Yup… let’s pretend the engine just blew out… now what? Easy… A, B, C, D, E… Airspeed down to Vcruise (~60kts), Best field for landing (basically anywhere in Wisconsin), Checklist across all drivers of why your engine doesn’t work (turn it all on… turn the key… nope?… turn it all off, so you don’t turn into a burning mess in your ‘Best field’), Dialogue with the tower (“Madison Tower… umm… this sucks”), and finally land that bad boy and Evacuate. Easy right…?

Feb 7… Superbowl at the Werner’s! Hell yeah, Saints. Good times were had.

Feb 8 – 12… work, work, work. It was a week of Ops Reviews with the international teams, a nice little variation to the week with a Wednesday evening work dinner at Fresco.

Feb 13… More flying in the AM… steep turns… feel the G’s. And, kung hei fat choy! Happy New Year, Chinese style! Qiu and Lisa through a great afternoon party to celebrate the happy new year… plus, the Olympics kicked off… good times!

Feb 14… Valentine’s Day! Umm… yeah, not a whole lot going on with that front. Plus, more flying! Ground reference maneuvers.

Feb 15 – 18… work, work, work, work.

Feb 19-21… board a plane, go to Texas, arrive at Cannon’s, start debauchery. Thanks to Jake’s persistence in planning, the ‘Erie Crew’ was able to get the band back together Southern style. Our most gracious hosts, Dylan and Lauren, had plenty of food, plenty of drinks, and plenty of fun lined up. PG highlights include the first golf of the season, which led to a new golf visor as my team won, Dennis and my the realization that every woman in Texas is married, and Pete Logan’s “Birthday.” Looking forward to it all again next year.

Feb 22-24… Meet up with Gonyeau… and his curling team… who are in Madison… for the national championships. Yes, that’s right, a fraternity brother of mine was at the national championships for curling. Is this bizarre? Yes. However, it was great to hangout with Gonyeau again, learn about curling, and party a bit with a fairly randomly assembled team of curlers.

Feb 25… Ray, can you sub in for bowling? Sure. I went bowling with Bob and Heath. We won… nice.

Feb 26… get in a car, drive 5 hours north to the upper peninsula of Michigan… aka the “U.P.” for a random ski weekend with some random folks. Brian Lause, an acquaintance from ‘back in the day’ who works and lives out here in Wisconsin was planning this trip for the second year in a row, and I had to take part. 30 people, two kegs, one ski tune-up, and one horrifyingly rough fall (aka “digger” and/or “yard sale”)… and I’d call it a success.

Feb 27… Call mom, and say “HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!”

Feb 28… Drive back to Madison, sleep. Start March tomorrow. February 2010… in the books.

2010-01-29T05:13:00.003-05:00

Busy? Sure…

After the holidays and a fiscal year end, January is always a good time to slow down, reflect, and plan. I think this year more than ever I found that the close of a year was significant, and the start of a new year brought the feeling of many opportunities. This could do with the fact that business turned around quite a bit in the final three months of the year, while the rest of 2009 was lousy, and you always feel better when comparing against a crappy baseline… but I’ll take it. So, what has 2010 brought so far? It’s only 29 days old, but I like what’s going on so far.

I’m going to drop some news right now that might get your blood flowing… Dojo Joe is showing signs of life. I can confirm that the rumors are true about a new studio project from the duo. Now, I can already hear the many follow-up questions that this news will create, but I’ll just let you know that The Doj won’t leave you hanging for too long before you can get a fix. It’s been four years since the release of the Tokyo EP… time to drop some creativity on this planet once again.

So I mention the opportunistic feelings that 2010 is bringing, but what does that really mean? Well, I’m going to stray from where I normally go here and bring up work. Listen, work can suck, and for many folks it’s absolutely horrible. That’s a sad thing… because if I were spending roughly a quarter of my life tied to something that I disliked, I’d go nuts. Okay, more nuts. So, how do I avoid being a nut? Mounds bars, obviously, but also a little thing I call ‘career planning’. For those of you immediately looking for something else now that I just mentioned those two words… try this link… wikipedia.

Now, why do I plan? There are plenty of reasons, but the main one is that having a goal makes life a heck of a lot more simple. With that goal in mind, all actions and decisions that I make at any given moment can be compared to whether or not they get me closer to that goal. If yes, do it, if no, don’t. “But Ray, do you really want to take every action or decision so seriously and in such context?” No, not every single moment, but I will say that a well thought out plan can influence your decisions making process… and therefore, can affect the majority of things you do even on a daily basis. Neurotic or genius? Well… depends if you’re a planning person or not.

All that being said, it was during 2009 that I realized I didn’t have much of a plan. Since 2002, and I’d argue even as early as 1999, I’d say that I had a fairly defined plan. In 2002, during my summer internship, the path was clear. Complete the operations program for two years as well as I could while moving towards finance world, join the corporate auditing staff, go as far as I could or could stand, and finally get a challenging job that kept the momentum going. Well… I did that, and 2002 through 2009 is in the record books. Granted, I make it sound fairly simple, but that was all that was needed at the time. The operations work and auditing were to setup a base of knowledge and experience, and to open the doors that I was not yet aware even existed. It worked, very well… almost too well. “What do you mean?” Well… the key to a solid plan is to ‘know what you don’t know’ and determine whether the efforts of gaining that experience in life is going to get you to where you want to be. Now, the more experiences you have, and the more of the world you see, the more you realize that you don’t know a whole lot… and it makes planning in 2010 much different and more challening than the planning done by a college senior in 2002.

This could all be a bit too theoretical, but this is my blog. In the next couple of months, I will be working on the plan for what we’ll call “Phase III”. “Why is it going to take a ‘couple of months’?” Because it’s going to cover a couple of decades, and you probably should think something like that out. Considering I research for a few months to buy a television or a car, the ‘life’ thing should also have its fair share of effort. I can already know the clichés that keep people from creating a plan… “Dude, don’t over think it” … “Things are going to change before you know it” … and so on. Yes, I know all of that already, thanks. And so, let the planning begin! All you gotta do is answer four simple questions. 1) What do I know? 2) Where do I want to go? 3) What will I need to know? 4) How do I get there? … easy, right?

Okay! Enough of that talk, how about something more fun? Movies and music! Anybody see Avatar? I did, it was 3D, and then it ended. How about Up In The Air? You know, the one about George Clooney always being on business travel? I wonder if they really have the 10 million mile club? I’d google it right now, but I’m on a plane over Italy right now headed to Israel. Irony? Nah, just no internet connection. Now how about that band Phoenix? You guys like-a-da-Phoenix? That “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” album of theirs was nominated for a grammy. Good work, fellas. If you don’t own it yet, go ahead and buy it. The Dead Weather? You guys like-a-da-Jack-White’s-new-project-where-he-plays-a-da-drums? Some of the album might not be for everybody, as it’s got some heavy tracks that don’t bode well for airplay ears, but if you’ve got three dollars and an iTunes account, may I suggest the tracks “60 Feet Tall,” “So Far From Your Weapon,” and “Treat Me Like Your Mother.” If you’ve got another $7, just buy the album, and enjoy. (iPod song shuffle just brought on “A Song For Jeffrey” by Jethro Tull… excellent deep track find… and it just followed it up with “Grey’s Groove” by Greyboy featuring Karl Denson… bizarre, they both contain the flute… oh iPod shuffle, you can still surprise me after all these years… but I digress).

So there it is… January, a slow month almost by design, but one that can be very useful. I hope 2010 is starting on the right foot for everyone else out there. What’s on the horizon? Some ridiculous weekend trips, some weddings, some flying, some recording sessions… stay tuned.

2009-12-26T14:27:00.007-05:00

The best row is the front row. Fact. I had the ‘this-doesn’t-happen-very-often’ opportunity to sit courtside at the Lakers vs. Bucks game in Milwaukee last week. Section 101, Row AAA, Seat 1… is actually the first seat in the Bradley Center, and we also had seats #2, #3, and #4 as well. In all honesty, the NBA can be quite boring. The last game I went to was in Philadelphia in early 2006, and I think we may have left early. This game however, proved to be quite exciting. The Bucks stayed ahead of the Lakers for most of the game, with Kobe nursing a broken finger and none of the defending championship Lakers having a very good first half. The second half, with the Lakers shooting on our end, made the game a heck of a lot more interesting with Kobe hitting his stride, Ron Artest pissing everyone off per usual, and Pau Gasol sporting that creeper beard of his. The Lakers pulled ahead, but the C-list celebrity player known as Andrew Bogut hit a shot in the paint while getting fouled at the other end to tie it up. After missing the free throws, the Lakers inbound the ball to Kobe who pulls up at the buzzer and… and… misses it. Overtime. The Bucks and Lakers were fighting like a college team in March Madness, and it was great to watch it up close. 5.6 seconds left, Bucks up by 1. Lakers inbound to Kobe… who pulls up at the buzzer and… and… nails it. BZZZZ! Lakers win! Awesome. Now, I don’t like the Lakers… at all… go Celtics... but I do like a good sports moment, and this one was excellent. (A shot here from Sports Center… we were pretty close).

Speaking of Kobe, I headed over to Milwaukee to meet up with Logan for a bit of Eastern Wisconsin debauchery, and a tasty steak. Mo’s A Place for Steaks in Milwaukee has always treated me well, and so we headed there for dinner. A bottle of Chimney Rock ’05 Cab was a must to start with, as a nod to the Cannon’s and their fine taste in wines. The waiter Bradley was a young guy who seemed to know his stuff, but I wasn’t sure if he was just giving me the same lines that he’d been taught or whether he actually had the goods to back it up. He says, “The Kobe is a phenomenal cut, my favorite.” I wasn’t convinced… so, I said to Bradley, “If you bring me a 4 ounce filet, and the 8 ounce Kobe, what happens if I’m not impressed?” … “I’ll pick up the Kobe.” Atta boy, walking the talk… impressive. I was going for the 12 ounce filet as it was, so this seemed like a good idea at the time. Once the steaks arrived, excellent idea. I bit into the filet, great steak. Bit into the Kobe, phenomenal steak. As I’m a man of my word, I picked up both steaks… well played, Bradley, well played.

So, not sure if you noticed, Christmas happened, and it was good times. I flew into Boston on Tuesday afternoon to hang out for a bit with Kristen and Keith. Wednesday’s impromptu bar crawl led us throughout the neighborhood, including Tom English’s, the Playwright, the Beer Garden, L Street Tavern, Quenchers, and a grand finale at Tom English’s again. Only appropriate to make the ‘Cottage’ the alpha and omega of the crawl. To understand the finale, you’ll have to get that tale through spoken word from Keith or I… it’s a classic. We continued the Christmas adventures in NH on Christmas Eve with Mom and Dad, and had the multi-hour Christmas present opening ceremony the next morning. It was a great time, with some hilarious moments, such as a pink snuggie for Kristen. It is always a good time to be with the family, especially for the Chinese themed dinner later on (a tradition that will have us enjoying Indian food next year… excellent). There was a cameo appearance by Tyler and Sarah, and the hilarious movie I Love You, Man to close the evening out. Good times.

2009-11-28T09:42:00.009-05:00

Autumn Status Check: Good times. The steady decrease in the thermometer has thankfully not had any correlation with enjoying the months of October and November. Honestly, if you can avoid snow and any travel headaches through these two months, you’re almost guaranteed a good time. Check and check.

First things first… Travel Update: We left off last time with a trip up to Sweden. Yes, I go there a lot. No, I won’t discuss any pickled fish, over indulgence with Snaps, or ridiculous Monday night nightclub experiences… and the reason is Sweden is slowing down for the cold dark winter. As soon as the days get shorter there, the skies become a half-lit perpetual gray and the people bundle up and shuffle along their way. They have one last hurrah with the Christmas celebrations (see last year’s post), but I’ve cancelled my December trip to Sweden, and therefore I will likely be waiting until the country comes out of hibernation to make another visit (think March).

One place that is not slowing down for the winter is my other common stop-off… Israel! After two weeks in Madison, it was time to get to the Mediterranean for one last trip of 2009. It sounds like good times, and don’t get me wrong it is… but the travel schedule to manage a week of work in Israel is a tough one. I flew out at 5pm on Friday after work, so that I could land in Israel by Saturday afternoon. “Oh good, Ray, then you get to enjoy your Sunday in Israel, right?”… not so much. Israel does not work on Fridays, has their holy day (Shabbat) on Saturday, and get a jump-start on much of the world by working on Sunday. Therefore, 9am in the office on Sunday… which is always fun when friends partying back in the states on Saturday night are texting me as I sit down to my first meeting of the day… ahh, working in the future. Their week ends on Thursday, which means I hopped the 11pm flight out of TLV, only to get back into the Madison office by noon on Friday and finish out a day of work there as well. It’s a solid 14-day run with a couple Trans-Atlantic-trans-Europe flights, but you know me… I love that stuff. The main highlight of this trip was probably a night in Tel Aviv with some of the guys at Nanuchka… a Georgian (think south of Russia) restaurant/bar that was packed up with the locals and was blasting Israeli tunes. I don’t know much Hebrew, but after a few Tuborgs, I can sing along in almost any language.

Football Update: Belichick went for it on 4th and 2. Ugh. In other news, go Badgers! In my born-again fan of College football world, I’ve been able to go to four of the University of Wisconsin home games, and get a little rowdy with Madison’s best. It was a pretty solid season, with Wisconsin climbing up and down the BCS rankings, but nothing exciting enough to write a blog post about… oh, wait. Either way, the final home game of the season was nature’s battle royale with the Badgers versus the Wolverines of Michigan. They need an animal planet show with a badger fighting a wolverine… I’d DVR that… but I digress. Everyone’s favorite Maggie Sadowksi made the trip from Ann Arbor with about 20 of her closest and craziest fellow MBA friends. They were, to put it lightly, a very entertaining group. There were fines paid and karaoke sung… you can fill in the rest.

Hobby Update: When I got back from Israel, it was time to start my next hobby. Flying. I spend so much time in the passenger seats of airplanes that it’s about time I get right up front and figure out what is going on. Turns out, a lot. I went over to Wisconsin Aviation to meet up with the head of the flight school there, and by the end of our conversation I had setup my first flight for Saturday morning. A few hundred dollars worth of reading materials later, and all of a sudden I was studying out of a textbook like I hadn’t done since college. Day one, I’m in the cockpit pushing in the throttle on the Cessna 152 and taking off from runway 21 in Madison. So far, so good with this hobby, and I’m sure I’ll keep up to date on what it’s all about. I’ve been up 3 times in the sky so far, but I’m still pretty far from the whole process being intuitive. Practice makes better.

Holiday Updates: I made it back to NH for Thanksgiving with the family, and with that most excellent of holidays also came another birthday for me earlier in the week. Good times were had with Mom and Dad at the Lake House, and some friends that got together the night before Thanksgiving. A great big ridiculous meal, and now I’m closing out a couple days here with the sister and Keith before heading back to Madison for a few more weeks of closing out the year, and a couple flights around the greater Madison area.

2009-10-28T16:05:00.006-04:00

When a friend says to you, “I’m getting married.” You say, “Congratulations!” But when a friend says to you, “I’m getting married… in St. John.” You say, “See you there!” I hopped a couple of flights, leaving Madison at 6am to Chicago, then on to San Juan and finally to St. Thomas… and then, a taxi ride across St. Thomas eventually got me to the ferry terminal, which then connected me to St. John after a 20 minute boat ride. I arrived by 8pm… a long day of travel to not change continents in my opinion, but worth it nonetheless.

Now, this was the wedding of Pamela Stewart and Darnell Davis. My friend Jerry Davis (no relation to the groom) was on his was the next day, along with my lovely guest Melissa… but for the first night, it was Pam, Pam’s friends and family, and Ray. Would this be good times? Would coming to a wedding 14 hours away on a remote island in the Caribbean with a bunch of strangers be a bust or a blast? I can’t quite put my finger on the timing… but it was either as I was taking a bite of the well-prepared steak with all my new weekend compadres, or maybe it was later when the bartender said “Sorry Mr. Berglund, but now we’re out of Tangueray,” that I knew good times were guaranteed.

Day two… whoa… is this what St. John looks like during the day? I utilized the Starwood hotels Platinum status to change rooms from a “Pool View” to the “Ocean View.” This postcard, I mean picture, is from my balcony. It had been six years since I was last in the Caribbean, and if I exclude money, time, and focus as factors, I’m not really sure why it took me so long to get back. Either way, it took me only a few minutes to get myself back into shape for public display, and get out into that water.

The rest of the cast showed up throughout the day, while Adria and I took advantage of the beach. By the time the evening came, I was in no shape to rally… so it was an early night. Saturday… wedding day… and, snorkel day! The majority of the gang went over to Jake’s for breakfast. In the month October, Madison is cold, but St. John is hot. ¡Hace calor, mami! Those not required to prep for the wedding, grabbed our snorkel gear and hopped into one of the islands many open air taxis (aka Pickup trucks with benches in the back… notsosafe.com). We were off to Trunk Bay for some relaxing in the sun, checking out the coral and swimming with the fishes. It was a perfect day, as I’m sure many of them are down there… but after being in the water for a few hours, and taking a long touring taxi ride around the island… it was time to have the lovely couple get married.

At around 6:00pm as the sun was setting, Pam and Darnell got hitched amongst a group of about 20 family and friends. It was a simple and elegant ceremony, and being there meant a lot to me and to all of us as witnesses. We followed up with a tasty dinner outside, a little music, a few drinks, all topped off with some time in the pool. Great day, great wedding.

Sunday had a few people leaving, and then Monday the rest of us. A ferry ride back to St. Thomas, a deck of cards and game of spades in the terminal… then I was off… to Sweden.

2009-09-29T22:11:00.009-04:00

Summer is definitely over. It was below 40 degrees the other night, and the wind has basically taken all of the leaves off of the trees. Damn. The onset of fall however, also means that I’ve been here for almost a year. Yep, Madison, WI… one year. Before I reminisce too much on my October 12th arrival anniversary, I’m going to give a quick update on what the last month and a half of the summer has been all about.

First and foremost, work. Secondly, fun. From experience, I know this is the wrong order of priorities, and the cold wind today was a swift reminder that I could have probably squeezed a bit more out of the summer than I managed to. C’est la vie… there’s always next year.

So, on that fun front, what’s that all about? Well, that generally means golf… a lot of it. I played some mean golf (for me) in the month of August. A couple of attempts at eagle puts, two birdies in a row at The Oaks, and a score of 102 at The Meadows of Sixmile Creek. That 102 was in fact the final round of the year for me, which is a shame… since I did have the “break 100” in the plans for this season, but it just didn’t come together.

What else? Well, there’s a few things you need to do in Madison during the summer. First off, you’ve got to try out the “Taste Of Madison.” I admit, I was skeptical that a ‘couple of restaurants’ could offer a ‘bit of food’ for people walking around… all the while in my head I’m thinking “glorified carnival food.” I will also admit, that I was wrong. I was starving when I arrived, and within 25 feet of the first row of booths that outlined the entire capital, I was devouring my third food sample (a pork asado burrito… thing). More than 200,000 people attended the event, and I ate for at least 4 or 5 of them. It was ridiculous, and I’m already thinking about how to better tactically approach “the Taste” next year.

Another good time? How about seeing only 1 of the 22 global Ironman Triathlon events start? There is no other way to describe than “Bad Ass.” Then you say, “Oh, come on, Ray… it’s just a race.” Well, I believe the exact calculation that I went through was: 2.4-mile Swim + 112-mile Bike + 26.2-mile run = Bad Ass. I got down to the Monona Terrace at about 6:45am, and immediately realized that this was a much bigger even than I had expected. There were 2,400 people in lake Monona behind the start line… Gatorade and other big name sponsors had huge booths and tents everywhere, and there were easily 15,000 to 20,000 people watching from the shoreline. It was nuts, and it was then that I started asking questions of “Okay, what exactly is this all about?” Turns out if you can Swim 2.4 miles, you’re in good shape. If you can ride a bike for 112 miles, you’ve just done something impressive… but if you can run a marathon after both of those… you’re an Ironman. Bad Ass.

One of the few reasons it’s okay for summer to end is that football begins. I think I speak for 99.5% of New England when I say that watching Tom Brady hit Benjamin Watson for two touchdown passes in the final 2:06 of the opening game of the NFL season against the Buffalo Bills to win 25-24, brought back everything that was missing from last season… and also, it blew my mind. (The other 0.5% of New England had turned it off, and are kicking themselves for it now). So, football, yes, I love it, and yes, I like seeing good teams play the sport. One of those teams, is the Green Bay Packers, and seeing them at the historic Lambeau Field is a mission of mine this season… mission: accomplished. On opening night, I headed up there (about 2.5 hours) to watch the Packers take on the Bears and win their opening night 21-15… a game which also contained a late touchdown pass with 1:11 left to clinch it. I had the opportunity to watch the whole thing from a suite above the stadium… and yes, the people in those boxes, are having a very good time.

Now… the “September Finale,” was really more of a “TEP Reunion,” which was really more of “Paul and Valerie’s Wedding,” but all three names (and more) could apply. I hopped a plane on Friday afternoon to Rochester, NY, met up with Nili P. Gold, and drove down to Canandaigua, NY’s Bristol Harbour Resort. (You can tell it’s nice due to the British spelling of Harbour). Rowell and I had rented out a 3-bedroom condo at the resort, and you can see the video below here of the view… yeah, that was nice. There, we met up with about 40 fraternity brothers of mine who were in town to see one of our own, Paul Grady, get married off to a lovely young lady by the name of Valerie Rogalia. It completely goes without saying that debauchery ensued with the crowd that was present, all during the night before, throughout the reception, and the late into the final night. The best thing about it for me however, was seeing a group of my closest friends that have gone deeper into the years of post-college life, and seeing how they’ve changed, matured, not-matured, made it through things, are going through things, and are all still alive (surprisingly enough). I look forward to another one of them working on another wedding in the near future, but hopefully not too near… I’m going to need some time to recover.

So there you have it… summer is over, but I enjoyed what I could get out of it. Stay tuned, it’s about to get a little ridiculous.

2009-08-13T12:47:00.007-04:00

To spend a week in New Hampshire with the family is a rare occurrence these days. I did manage to pull it off though, as after the passing of anyone close, you often take a step back and think through what is important. I did, and I knew that sticking around for a week would be good for me, good for the family, and good for the fun.

I was working all week, and on and off calls, but I managed to get out and see New Hampshire a bit. The summer here is incredible, and I suppose that it’s not until you’ve seen the weather of the rest of the world and/or have seen just how lousy some places can be, that you finally get to appreciate what is like to be here. On Monday, after some morning calls… Mom and I headed up to the Grafton County Courthouse… yeehaw… and filed my grandfather’s will with the Probate court. I wasn’t all that familiar with Probate, except for the fact that “it takes forever,” as anyone would tell you. Basically, it means that you open up an account, put everything that he had in his own name into that account, pay his outstanding bills from that account, and then once everything has been settled, you close the account and ‘inherit’ what is left. Interesting, I suppose. So, once that was filed, we headed back to Lincoln, NH via Route 112. It’s a gorgeous ride, and when you’re coming down Kinsman Notch past the Lost River campground area, you are looking southeast across multiple mountain ranges, between Mt. Osceola and Mt. Tecumseh, with Mt. Passaconaway and Mt. Whiteface in the furthest background. The picture doesn’t do it justice, but it was a gorgeous view. (Here’s a map to give you an idea of the view… the start of the arrow is where I took the picture from).

Tuesday was much more focused on work, and was certainly a low-key day. It was again, absolutely gorgeous… and I stuck around my computer for most of the day, on and off calls. Wednesday, my dad took the day off, and we visited a good friend up on Ossipee Lake. We went out on to the boat, and cruised around the Lake. I had never been out on this lake before, but just like the rest of New Hampshire lakes… it was beautiful. We cruised out of Broad Bay and headed out into the big lake. It was another good view, but was quite hazy and humid on Wednesday. As we cruised up the east side of the lake, a bald eagle flew right over us and I took this picture here. Go, nature!

Thursday night, it was my time to take out the parents for a nice dinner. Enter, the Coe House. It’s a restaurant in one of the many old houses that exist around the Lake, but it’s recently come under new ownership, so we gave it a go. They had these butternut squash raviolis in this sage white sauce that I ordered for an appetizer… ridiculous, right… and so when mom and dad went salads for a second course, I ordered another round of the raviolis… worth it. More food, more drinks, more conversation… my dad put it best when he said on Saturday as I was leaving “I could have stayed there all night.”

On Friday, I took a bike ride with mom in the afternoon after work was done, and closed out the final evening by meeting up with old friends for a dinner and drinks. It’s a rare occurrence these days to spend so much time with the family, and I know I am fortunate.

2009-08-06T17:28:00.007-04:00

My grandfather passed away last week. A shame, as he was the last of my grandparents, and now I’m one generation away from “the natural order of things.” My grandfather was a hero for the family. He was a world War II vet, a business owner a few times over, a pilot, and as native to New Hampshire as you could get. He had been ‘flying solo’ for the last few years, his aunt died in 1998, then his daughter (my aunt) died in 1999, his mother died later that same week (yeah, that was a tough week). Then in 2003 his wife died, and all that was left was my parents, my sister and I. So, he was sort of just rolling along, living in Lincoln, NH, and doing just fine with that. I saw him at Christmas, and he was looking older; still was a handsome guy, and had a vivacious spirit, but was looking just a bit older to me. Anyway, we all had a few drinks that night and as I told him "I'll see you later," he responded "Yeah, if I live that long." I said that I'd see him again, and sure enough, on the 4th of July weekend that I flew to New Hampshire for, my mom arranged for a family dinner to celebrate his 82nd birthday. We all headed up to Lincoln, and had dinner at the Indian Head Resort. I got him a card of a big-faced ridiculous looking cow and made a joke about living in Wisconsin inside it. The dinner and conversation was a great time, and we even took this picture here… as you can see, he was still lively and joking around. Less than four weeks later, he died. I was told on Tuesday morning while I was at work in Madison. My mom asked if I was going to make it back, because he was to be cremated, and I said, "Hold on that," and I flew back within 24 hours and was able to see him one last time. He looked peaceful, relaxed, and was as if he was just sleeping. It was a good thing for me, as I know he would have done the same.

So, in all, despite not wanting him to go and it being a sudden and sad thing, I feel like I saw him at the right times with the right people very recently. I will miss him though, because I wanted him to see what more came out of this life of mine... he was always so incredibly proud of my sister and I, and honestly I just wanted to keep showing off for someone who appreciated it so much. Now, there is an emptiness in the family, especially for my mom... but as I said, with only being one generation away, I guess it just means I'm not the kid anymore. I liked having a grandpa though... I liked it a lot.

His obituary reads:

William Henderson
Navy veteran

LINCOLN — William "Bill" James Frederick Henderson, 82, of Lincoln, died on July 28, 2009.

Born July 8, 1927 in Lincoln, he was the son of Edward William and Gladys Davis Henderson.

Bill served in the Navy from June 1945 to August 1949. He served on seven different vessels throughout his service, traveling throughout the Asia Pacific region during World War II. After serving his time in the Navy, Bill earned his bachelor's degree in history from the University of New Hampshire in 1953.

Bill was the manager of several W.T. Grant stores throughout New England for 22 years, finally settling in Claremont. He then became the owner of the Western Auto store in the same community for several years. Additionally, Bill and his family operated the Frostop Dairy Bar in Newbury Harbor. Bill worked until his retirement as a correctional officer at the Sullivan County House of Corrections. During his retirement, he worked at Esersky's Hardware store in Claremont.

Bill was an enthusiast of aviation and experimental aircraft, owning a Piper Colt plane of his own. He began taking flying lessons in the late 1950s and continued flying until 2008. Bill was a member of the Airport Advisory Commission in Claremont during his residency there.

He was an active member of the American Legion Post 83 in Lincoln.

Bill is survived by his daughter, Grace Berglund and her husband Kenneth of Moultonborough; his grandson, Raymond Berglund of Madison, Wis.; his granddaughter, Kristen Menslage and her husband Keith of South Boston; his lifelong friend Barbara (Madden) Badasarian; and many cousins.

Bill was predeceased by his wife, Cynthia (Rynders) Henderson; and his daughter, Nancy Henderson.

Honestly, I think my grandfather was one of the most interesting men in the world. He didn’t speak much, but when he did, it was time to listen. He was laid to rest on a beautiful sunny day in the Riverside Cemetery in Lincoln, NH on August 1, 2009. The Navy color guard was on hand to present the flag to my mother, and the America Legion was there to fire a three-volley salute. As taps played, the White Mountains of New Hampshire towered in the background, a military helicopter flew around Coolidge Mountain, and a crowd of 70 or so people stood in silence to remember my grandfather. He is and will be missed.

2009-07-26T17:04:00.015-04:00

Jerusalem… the capital of Israel… and the holy land of just about everyone on Earth. Greek Orthodox? This is your place. Muslim? You’ve got a reason to be here. Roman Catholic? Jewish? Come on down… we’ve got an altar for you! A trip to Jerusalem is worth a visit in your lifetime, and I managed to pull it off with a private tour guide a couple weeks back. I knew that it was a big deal to go, but had no idea really what it was all about.

I flew to Israel on Saturday afternoon from Madison, bouncing my way through Detroit and JFK on my way to Tel Aviv. I arrived about 2pm on Sunday and rented my Honda Civic and was off to Herzliya. It was my third time staying in this resort town, but my first in the summer, and you can see why these hotels are a destination by so many Israelis and international tourists. The Mediterranean, the sand, the people… incredible… take a look:

Needless to say, the week started off well and I was sure to enjoy my time with the team and with getting some tourist activities in on this third trip to Israel. The week included a number of operating reviews with the team for me to review all the hard work that’s gone into the tough first half of this year. It was great to see that the work that’s been done, but also to see all of the people of my business face to face and in their element… definitely a big reason why I work like I do.

What’s the next best thing to do besides meet your team at work 3,000 miles away? Leave work with them! That’s right… if I wanted to be in the office, I could have stayed in Madison. So, where did we go? Well, I headed up to Haifa for one day to have a meeting with the team in the north of the country, and also made it down for a meeting with Deloitte in the Azrieli towers in Tel Aviv… quite a view from the 42nd floor… and best of all, lunch with the team in the ancient town of Caesarea.

Caesarea is an ancient port city that was built up by the Romans in 63 BC, most specifically by King Herod. It consisted of a large palace that stretched out on a rock cropping into the ocean, had it’s own hippodrome for chariot racing, and hosted gladiator games every five years. The city continued to flourish in the Byzantine era, but was eventually abandoned after being sacked by the Baybars. Today, it is a common location for tourists to visit the ruins on land and dive amongst the roman columns in the small bay. (This paragraph brought to you by Wikipedia). The team and I however most enjoyed the restaurant that is amongst the ruins and right on the ocean for a great view, great breeze, and great food.

Friday was the big day. At 9am, my tour guide Rami picked me up at the Daniel hotel, and we were off to the holy city of Jerusalem. We drove through the middle of the country, down a well-maintained and empty highway (Friday is the first day of the weekend there). Before we got into Jerusalem, just on the outskirts of the city, we went Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial of Israel (the top and exit of the building you can see here). It was quite an impressive site to see, and a very well laid out memorial. I was glad to have taken the time to see it, and despite really looking forward to getting into the Old City, it was well worth the couple morning hours. Further along the ride, Rami explained that David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, made a huge push for planting tress throughout Israel to ‘reclaim the land’ from the desert. Now, if you grew up in the middle of a forest in New Hampshire, you wouldn’t be impressed by the sparse forests in this arid land… but then when you enter into Jerusalem towards the Mount of Olives and look east into the West Bank and into Jordan, you realize that there is a major difference between Israel and the desert. I realized when I looked down on it, I had never seen the desert before, and despite it being for only a few seconds as we rounded the corner, it is an incredibly desolate and empty place… almost like another planet. That was fine with me though, because only a minute later, I was looking down from the Mount of Olives over the old city of Jerusalem. This was the view:

You don’t get many cities like Jerusalem… three major religions, declaring it the holiest site for their beliefs, all packed within a few hundred yards of each other. In the video above, I zoom in on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is the holiest site of the Christians, then just to the right of that is the golden topped Dome of the Rock, the third holiest site for Islam, which sits on the large flat area of the Temple Mount, the holiest site for Judaism. All packed in with each other, all best friends… yeah, not so much. Also in the video, you can see the many graves on the Mount of Olives. Why would they pack in right there on the hill? Well, as Rami explained, the sealed “Golden Gate” along the eastern wall of the Temple Mount will be opened up when the Messiah returns, the third temple will be built up, and the dead will be resurrected. Thus, the $250k or so he estimated it costs to be buried there among the other 150,000 people, is the price you pay to get a front row seat to all of this action. Wow. You can also ride this camel for about 20 shekel.

From the Mount of Olives, Rami and I drove down to just below the Temple Mount and parked there to enter the Old City at Zion Gate. The first thing we did was go to the tomb of David, located in a building below where supposedly the last supper took place. Now, you have to go with some imagination here, since many of these buildings have been destroyed, rebuilt, and obviously with the three religions having somewhat, shall we say differing ‘views,’ all claims of locations and events are disputed, but there is one thing for certain… lots of things have happened here over many many years.

We walked along the split between the Armenian quarter and the Jewish quarter to the ‘Cardo’, the colonnaded excavated main street from the Roman period of Jerusalem. It is full of shops and excavated old city walls from thousands of years ago. It honestly is very interesting to see how the modern shops are built right into the ruins. From there, we walked up through a covered market area, which was teeming with the Muslims who had just got out of their Friday prayers at the Mosque (Friday is the holy day for Muslims, Saturday for the Jews, and Sunday for the Christians), and it was a great site to see. People packed in, haggling back and forth, spices, knick-knacks, and everything in between being sold… simply awesome.

Rami and I emerged from the market to the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Why is this important? Well, Jesus was crucified on site where the Church was built, so that’s one reason. Another is that inside the church, there are altars and areas from nearly every sect of Christianity. With that said, the “status quo” arrangement of the ownership of the church and its common areas require that all of the religious communities are in agreement before any changes are made. This basically means that the place looks pretty beat up. In comparing it to a site such as St. Peter’s in Rome, the church is not beautifully ornate, but it is monumental to see. I walked all through the building for a while, and I’m always most impressed by ancient graffiti, such as these crosses drawn by the Crusaders of ~1100AD. The people that are kneeling down in the picture are touching the Anointing Stone, where Jesus’ body was prepared. Every one touches it, and some people kiss it… I didn’t kiss it.

We left there, grabbed a schwarma for lunch, and headed down the hill, through another section of the market, through the Muslim quarter, up to the entrance of the Jewish Quarter’s Western Wall. The Western Wall is also known as the Wailing Wall, as it is the holiest site for the Jewish faith, and many people come here to pray and… well… pray. Why a wall? Well, the wall was originally part of the Second Temple, which was destroyed in 70 when the Romans took over Judea. The Temple Mount, the area where the Second Temple was located (the flat area that was in the video above), was enlarged and in the late 600’s, the Muslims built the Dome of the Rock on the location. Therefore, the holiest location for Jews to this day is the remainder of the temple’s wall… the Western Wall.

After seeing that, we headed out of the city and back on the roads to the coast and up to Herzliya. In all, it was a great trip that I would not have likely had in my “must see” plans as a tourist, but again the job comes through with giving me these kinds of unique opportunities. Israel, come for the history, stay for the kebabs. (Or at least those free paper yamulkes they hand out at holy sites).

2009-06-23T09:54:00.005-04:00

Happy Birthday Blog!

The Go There, Try That blog is now 3 years old as of today.

I am proud to have kept a personal record of the past three years. When I talk with my parents, and really anyone who has lived through their twenties, it becomes clear that this time in life moves quicker than anyone ever expects. Once you leave college, enter the work force, make your way through relationships and apartments, your memories begin to blend and mix together... and it becomes tough to keep the story straight. Now that the travel has slowed a bit, so has the posting... but it's part of the transition, I suppose. About two months ago, I considered 'retiring' the blog... closing it off with a final post and saying "Adios, Muchachos." I'd say the thought was brought on by a number of things; less travel, repetitive activities brought on by living in one small city, and my own general lack of interest in my own story. It's not the most uplifting thought, sure, but it's the reality of change. It's the reality that there are ups, and there are downs... but on average, life is certainly good. So as I continue to get used to the new 'average', I will continue going wherever and trying whatever to keep it interesting. Thanks for reading, it's been a pleasure writing.

-Ray

2009-05-25T07:41:00.002-04:00

I received the inevitable “Ray Ray, where you been, man?” and I think it’s high time for a little update. The last time we talked I was coming home from a double serving of Sweden in two weeks… and mentioned I was going to go out to the islands. Well, went to the islands I did. Actually, just one island… that of Styrsö. I hopped in the Volvo, punched in the port of Saltholmen into the GPS, and I was off. Once I arrived, I bought my ticket for the ferry, got a “Guide To the Islands of the Southern Archipelago” pamphlet, hopped aboard the boat and was off. Now… what I learned that the locals do from the helpful ticket booth girl was that everyone waits until they get to Styrsö Tangen to get off, and then they walk across the island and take the Ferry back from Styrsö Bratten… duh.

Heading into the island, along with landing and seeing the people there, made me think of only one thing: Maine. If you’ve ever had the chance to go to the Maine coast, and take a ferry out to one of the islands (say Monhegan or Vinalhaven), then you would know exactly what it was like going out to the coastal islands of the Southeast coast of Sweden; rocky, sunny, breezy, salty, and everyone speaking a different language. It was exactly what the doctor ordered after a couple weeks of a lot of work.

The first thing I did when I got there was grab a bite to eat at the small café at Styrsö Tangen. One thing I’ve found that is very popular in the Gothenburg area is a “shrimp sandwich,” which consists of a flat piece of bread (like a pita), with some lettuce, sliced hardboiled eggs, an oversize dollop of mayo, and a huge pile of tiny shrimp. At the Gothia Towers, they call it a “king size,” at this café they called it a fjurgenkyurgenschmyurgenflyurgen. (That’s a lie). But, it was good nonetheless with a Litovel beer (a Czech Republic beer).

For the remainder of the day, I wandered all around the islands “roads”. There is no driving allowed on the island, and therefore the roads are more like wide walking paths with the occasional 3-wheel scooter that comes by. In all reality, I did nothing there all day, but I suppose that was the point. Thus, my trip to the “Island of the Southern Archipelago.” Good times.

While I’m at it, I have to point out one other observations of Sweden. There is this little “breath” that Swedish people do when they are listening to you talk, and once you notice that it’s happening, it’s hugely distracting. I liken it to the way my fellow Americans might say “mmhmm” while someone is explaining to something to them… but this breath that the Swedes do almost seems like they are in pain, got surprised by something, or are having a pulmonary issue. (This guy wrote an entire blogpost dedicated to it) It’s just one of those things… you gotta see it to believe it.

2009-05-05T11:59:00.014-04:00

The most common question I seem to get when I talk about my transatlantic travel is, “How long is that flight?” Well, to go to Sweden, it’s 3 legs… 1.5 hours from Madison to Detroit (or sometimes Minneapolis), 8.25 hours to Amsterdam (from either city really), and another 1.5 hours from Amsterdam up to Gothenburg… totaling 11.25 hours. Throw in about two hours per layover, and you’ve got a nice 15 to 16 hour travel time. With trips to Israel, it’s about 2.5 hours from Madison to Newark, and 9.5 hours from Newark to Tel Aviv. Throw in the two-hour layover in Newark and you’ve got a solid 14-15 hours. There, now that we’re comfortable that this travel leads to long days… one could now ask, “What do you do on these flights?” Well, with the advance of personal entertainment systems on the flights, I watch movies… and I’ve seen a lot of them in the last few weeks. Here’s my take on the movies that I’ve watched in only the last 2 weeks on a plane (in order from least favorite to… umm, favorite favorite… I guess):

Yes Man: Jim Carrey re-does “Liar Liar.” The movie is literally the exact same premise, except that instead of not being able to lie, he just can’t say no. Unless you’re on a plane, in an uncomfortable seat for 8 hours, I’d say stay away… but, if you happen to be in that very seat, and you want some mindless-yet-classic Jim Carrey… be my guest. Score: 3/10

Rocknrolla: Guy Ritchie re-does all Guy Ritchie films. Listen, much like the predictability of Jim Carrey from above, you get the same thing with Guy Ritchie’s films. The London gangster and drug addict underground, lots of (insert thing of value here, i.e. diamonds, real estate, etc.), and a grand scheme by all characters involved to screw each other over… where the last man standing is gloriously redeemed and somehow not in jail for life. Yet… sometimes that’s exactly what the doctor ordered… and Mr. Ritchie delivers, again. 5/10

Frost/Nixon: The most interesting thing about my generation and Nixon is that we know only two things about him… Vietnam and Watergate. Some of us who paid attention in US History may remember his visit to China, but I wouldn’t put money on it. I personally have never heard of the Nixon interviews, and therefore another biographical true story movie was in store… plus, I had watched nearly everything else. So, what do you get from this movie? No action, a bit of tense drama, but in the end… some historic facts and a portrait of an old man who has fallen from grace. You almost feel bad for the guy… but, then you remember Vietnam and Watergate and get over that pretty quickly. Score: 5/10

Milk: Sean Penn kissed a dude… I saw it. This movie would make a good number of people in the red states completely lose their minds… it does not hold back. It however is a great story of a very influential man, and Sean Penn (along with the cast around him), make you root for the other team more than the crowd at Tropicana field from 1996 to 2006. It’s inspiring, it’s factual, and it’s a very well-done movie… and a great biography… so give it a go. Score: 6/10

Revolutionary Road: LEO! *little girl scream*… yeah, so anyway, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are back at it again… except this is the part of their continuing Hollywood romance where they actually make it back from the Titanic, and get a job and have children, and realize how much life can actually suck. By the end of Revolutionary Road, you take a look at all the characters, reflect on yourself to see if you have any of their qualities, and swear to be a better person. You also say, “Man, that was heavy… I need to watch ‘Yes Man’.” Score: 6/10

Gran Torino: Clint Eastwood cracks me up in this movie. Racism, now that its been completely eradicated from the earth (please note the sarcasm), is rampant in this movie and gives the real life look at how many of our grandfathers (in the US) who fought in the Pacific think and sometimes still talk. It’s a pretty honest story overall, and brings up a number of cultural misunderstandings and differences that are good to face… plus, you’ll want to carry a gun and be very hungry for dim sum by the end. Score: 6/10

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: A story of a man, in reverse only physically, but very forward in mental development and learning from life’s lessons… definitely worth the watch. People had complained that it was a bit long… thank god, because I still watched two other movies on the same flight, so to me, it wasn’t long enough. For anyone thinking they’re going to get the romance/love story piece, just drop that from the beginning. This is a story about a man, from sunrise to sunset. Score: 8/10

The Wrestler: Story, gritty. Camera work, gritty. This movie, awesome. This movie could have been a documentary, and Mickey Rourke could have actually been a wrestler known as “The Ram.” The thing about it, is that this didn’t necessarily have to be a wrestler, but could have been many sports, where someone never lets go of being part of the action. You even get to follow the side story of Marisa Tomei’s character, all of which could also be a documentary. I’d recommend this one for most people, not all, because not everyone is gritty enough… some people are boring. Score: 9/10

So there you have it… my stab at being a movie critic… just my opinion, take it or leave it.

2009-05-01T12:15:00.006-04:00

I’m in Sweden right now, and I will tell you that the beauty of the women here is directly correlated with the temperature. And, it’s been quite warm these past two weeks. That’s right, two weeks in Sweden, but with a quick stop over in Madison for 44 hours. Let me explain:

On April 20th, I had an all day meeting in Madison that I couldn’t miss, but I had to get to Sweden for some reviews by Wednesday. Thus, a night Monday flight out of Madison through Chicago and Amsterdam, and I was into Sweden to meet up with the team for dinner by Tuesday evening. That evening at dinner, I was introduced to snaps. No, not schnapps, but “snaps.” Picture a clear version of Jägermeister, except with more ‘dirt’ flavor. Now, before you go running off trying a ‘snaps bomb’ or something creative, please note that I only had 4 of these that night, and don’t even remember leaving the restaurant. And before you say, “Ray, are you crazy, man?” Let me just say, “Yes.”

Wednesday was a lot of fun after that. Jet lag, snaps lag, etc., plus the fact that I was in a warm meeting room discussing the business for a few hours… wow… I am not as young as I used to be. Either way, it was great to be back in Sweden, but at the end of the day I found out that we had an issue that had to be taken care of on short notice. My team worked quite hard on Thursday and Friday… but then I realized I was going to need to be here the next week. That’s when I looked at my carry-on bag with only 2 real days of clothes and said, “Well, how about a quick stopover in Madison?” I flew out at 6am on Saturday GMT+1, landed in Madison at 5pm that same day GMT-5, and went to none other than ‘The Weary Traveler’ for dinner. The reverse jet lag of coming back made me almost pass out after a full meal, so I headed home early… asleep by 8:30, awake at 5:30! yay.

Lunch at Bahn Thai was good on a cloudy gray afternoon, a bit of laundry and re-packing, a meeting on Monday morning, and then on to a plane by 1:30pm GMT-5, and landing in Gothenburg Tuesday morning at 9:45am GMT+1… rented my Volvo, and went directly to the office to work until 8pm. Now, if there is no Weary Traveler… where does one go after such a ridiculous day? La Terrazza of course. In all, this week has been quite a bit of work, but it’s the weather that has blown me away. 65-75 degrees each day, clear air, and now the sun stays up until 9:30pm… it’s amazing, really.

So today, I had lunch at some sort of mansion on a hill… it’s called ‘Gunnebo Slott’, which means Gunnebo Castle. It was nice to eat outside, and I finally was able to play the tourist here in Sweden by snapping some pics of the house and gardens.

In other news, a few weeks back mom and dad came to town. They drove all the way out here with furniture that I bought from my dad’s store… can you believe that? 20 hours of driving… that is nuts. Either way, they came, they saw, they conquered. And the only way to conquer Wisconsin is brats, cheese curds, and beer. Done and done. But, we also did some other fun stuff when they were in town for the two short days. One thing we did was to go to Olbrich Gardens… a place I’d suggest anyone to visit when they come to Madison. Now, when it comes to my parents and plants, you have to understand that it’s a whole different level. How can I explain? Well… when I was a kid, and if we were on a family vacation, and if we slowed or stopped the car to look at a tree/plant/bush/etc., and my parents commented on how great of a specimen it was and then spouted off the Latin name, my sister and I would not find that weird. So, with that in mind, we went through the Bolz Conservatory and viewed the exotic plants, random exotic birds walking and flying around, and talked about how impressive the specimens were. I learned what an epiphyte is, and had solid ‘smart word’ to use for the rest of the visit, and commented throughout the conservatory about how impressive the epiphytes were.

Anyway… it’s been a long week. Tomorrow I’ll visit the islands on the west coast… then back home on Sunday and dinner at ‘The Weary.’

2009-04-04T10:30:00.005-04:00

Well… I was in Israel a couple weeks ago, and I took this quick little shot from my balcony at the Daniel in Herzliya… a nice spot for sure.

The trip to Israel this time around was quite good. The temperature was quite a bit cooler than it was in November when I was there, which is a bonus. As for trips in the middle of summer… I will be miserable, as I’m not a fan of heat. But either way, here’s a fun little story:

I land in Israel at 2:45am, and walk through the cavernous Ben Gurion airport (TLV). Overall, I like this airport… where else do you have 50-foot high ceilings? Nowhere. I made my way to security, which is extremely intense in Israel, and waited in line for almost 30 minutes as they asked a ton of questions to all of the people arriving at that hour. Once I made it through, I waited for my bag… and waited… and waited… and then the conveyer stopped. 3:30am… no bag… damn. Then, I go to Hertz. I pick up my white Mitsubishi Lancer (the cars in Israel are horrible little things… this was a “premium” option), and I take off. It’s just shy of 4am, and I’m on the highway, driving through Israel on my own. It had rained just recently… the roads are wet and it’s a bit windy, and I’m a bit tired, but I know where I’m going… right? Mmmm, no… not so much. I see the exit for Herzliya Pituach (which I know is where the hotel is), but I recall from last visit in November that “the next exit” is closer to the hotel… so I continue on. Then, a couple of bright yellow signs with black lettering warn me of something… one issue: all in Hebrew. Then, I see it ahead… a stoplight… the highway ended and I was at an intersection. Slight panic. No buildings are around. As everyone knows, when in doubt… go right… so I go right. But does that rule apply in a country that was as recently as one moth prior conducting military activities an hour and a half south of this intersection? Uhhh, sure. I drive, for a while… and nothing is there… no buildings, nothing recognizable… plenty of signs, all in Hebrew. More panic. Turn around, go back to the highway… yes, that’s a good idea. Come back to the intersection where I had chosen right… no on ramp… continue on. Cross a bridge. Houses… not nice houses… bad houses. Street lights are out… one is blinking in an awkward apocalyptic scene. 4:30am. Much more panic. Turn around. Come to the complete realization that I’m lost in Israel. Now, trust me, there are worse places on Earth to be lost in… but I don’t want to be lost in Israel… I just don’t. But I am. Okay… back the other way. Right felt more… well… right. There’s a sign, green with white letters… looks more ‘kind’ than the yellow and black. The arrow points right… go? Yes, go. Drive for a while, sign comes up… all Hebrew, but there it was, gleaming like a beacon of hope… the symbol for ‘highway’! Go right again, highway, take the Herzliya Pituach exit… hotel, check-in, 5am, good night. 7am, good morning.

The last thing I’ll point out is that the breakfast buffet is one of the greatest things in the Israeli hotels that I stayed at, and the Daniel was no exception. Mediterranean cuisine, fresh food, and a view of the water… a great way to start the day.

2009-03-09T20:36:00.003-04:00

Hej-o Ray-o! I officially spent half of February in Gothenburg, Sweden and ate La Terrazza more than I did at my own home. So much for the life of less travel…

After I arrived home from McBrideapalooza ’09, I did a load of laundry, packed a couple bags and headed to the road for two weeks. This time trouble was awaiting in Gothenburg by the time arrived in the form of Tim “IT” Steigert. After my Madison, Detroit, Amsterdam, Gothenburg connections, and a quick Hotel Liseberg Heden check in, I met the IT & Finance integration crew out for dinner at… where else? La Terrazza! Post-dinner, Tim and I went in search of extracurricular activities. We wandered the Monday evening ghost-town streets of Goteborg, until we stumbled upon the Dubliner. I was on the opposite end of jet lag, and feeling like a million very awake bucks. A few Guinness and it was time to leave The Dubliner. We were almost to 7 Eleven, and it’s Swedish Meatball goodness when we ran into a fellah who is now known as Jan Goran. He was headed to Berså Bar, to which we decided we also would. Well, this little bar/club has what they call “Thank God Its Monday,” and is the place where anyone in Gothenburg out on a Monday ends up going. The place ended up getting packed and we didn’t leave until the single digits. About 4 hours later, I was on the shit end of jet lag. And this is how people age horribly.

The week was again quite successful on the work front, and a bit more exploration of Gothenburg. I walked further than I had in the past, going all the way to my new second favorite restaurant, “Hello Monkey.” Once Pheffer showed up on Sunday, we ended up making the Trek all the way down to the mall area, and what appeared to be the Marina/Port of Gothenburg. Next time, my goal is to read up on some touristy things to do, and get involved in one or two during the week… I’ve got to take advantage of this opportunity!

Well, the week wrapped up on Monday the second, and I tagged out of the ring for Tammy and Pheffer to help out… with a great handoff from Tammy by bringing my 1 of 10 boxes of Girl Scout cookies I bought off of her daughter to me. Tagalongs… delicious. And now, I’m on the KLM flight from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv… because it’s high time for “Israel Trip 2: The Resurrection”… oh man, I know, that’s funny, right? But seriously, I’m looking forward to the good times and to seeing the team on the Mediterranean! It’s falafel time.

2009-02-22T11:31:00.002-05:00

I bought a car. A BMW. It’s nice.

When I was living in Luxembourg, I had the chance to drive a BMW 5 Series and 3 Series over a period of about 2 months. Both were diesel, cloth seated, Euro-versions of the 2007 models. I enjoyed it immensely. Between the Frankfurt Airport and Echternach, I hit 230 kmh on the autobahn… but I think it was somewhere between 190 and 200 khm that I had already said to myself, “Self, you’ve got to get yourself one of these.” So, in early December I went out shopping and met my boy Griff at Zimbrick BMW. “Griffin” as his nameplate called him, was almost excited about the fact that I was considering a BMW as I was. We tried out the 2009 328i, the 2008 335xi, and discussed the multiple options available. I told him I would come back in a week or two if it was the right direction for me. I knew it already was, but wasn’t sure about the route to take… “service loaner” with a discount? An ’08 with the power but not the options or look I want? Or… go and pick everything I want, exactly how I want, and have it my way. Yeah… Ray’s way, every day.

I went back in on December 20th, to meet up with Griff. All of you folks (guys) that go to www.bmwusa.com and ‘build your own’, stare at your ridiculously sweet ride, and then just close the website… well, we did that exact same thing at Griff’s desk, except I “added to shopping cart” and “checked out.” Griff did the search to find that there was nothing like it out there, and put the order into Munich. I went with the 2009 328i x-Drive Sedan, in Monaco Blue with Dakota Brown Leather, 6-speed manual transmission, premium package, cold weather package, upgraded 17” wheels, iPod hookup, satellite radio, and privacy glass.

Then… I waited. Two months passed, with emails coming in from Griff. Here are are the excerpts:

12/31 – Impatiently waiting
TO: Griffin, Any confirmation that the order is in and/or estimation on delivery date?
Thanks, Ray

RE: Good afternoon Ray! Nothing has changed since we last spoke. Your car is scheduled to be through with production the 3rd week in January, putting us right on track for that two month mark. Of course, please let me know as questions arise. Otherwise, I will continue to keep you updated as to your car's whereabouts in the production and shipping process.
Happy new year! Griff

1/6 – Demanding Deliverables (Incredible how close my schedule actually was)
TO: Griff, Do you happen to have an approximate schedule of when things happen? i.e.:
1/20 - Production scheduled
1/26 - Completion & Factory Testing
1/29 - Shipment
2/15 - Arrival / Customs Charleston
2/20 - Arrival Madison
2/21 - Delivery
Thanks, Ray

RE: Hi Ray. Great news- your car actually went into production this morning! Production generally takes about a week, so your car should be done by mid next week.
In regard to when your car will actually be on a boat, making its trip across the pond, I won't know that until it happens. I wish I had a better estimation for you, but unfortunately, it is really just a matter of how many cars are in line to ship out. I've seen cars ship in as little as a week from the time production is completed, but take as long as three or four weeks.
I presume your timeline below won't be too far off, and your car might actually arrive a little sooner. I will continue to keep you updated. Feel free to let me know of any questions that arise as well.
Thanks again! Griffin

1/14 – Slowly going mental
TO: Griffin, How's this weather treating you? Was wondering if the vehicle has made it to a boat? I think they should make a reality TV show about it... or maybe some sort of satellite-fed webcam on the car... www.wheresrayscar.com and I can just log on... and see the dark inside of a shipping container. That'd be fantastic.
Ray

RE: Good morning Ray. I'll make that suggestion to BMW of North America- not a bad idea! Your car actually entered the paint shop today, so no boat yet. I'll let you know as soon as it is done with production. Of course, let me know of questions in the mean time.
Griff

1/22 – Growing a nervous tick… complete sentences become difficult
TO: Griffin… status check? Am I on the ocean? Awesome.

RE: Good morning Ray. Great news- your car is in transit! It left the Port of Bremerhaven yesterday, on the vessel Western Highway. As of right now BWM is showing me an ETA at the Port of Charleston, of February 6th. That date generally flexes by a day or two in either direction, but I will keep you updated and let you know exactly when it lands.
Thanks again! Griff

2/6 – Irony hits a high point when I’m in Europe, and my car is in the USA
TO: Great news Ray- your car arrived at Port Charleston this afternoon! It is due at the processing center, a little further inland by Sunday. From there it will get loaded into an enclosed semi trailer for transport to Madison. As soon as it's on that truck, I'll let you know. We should be able to schedule a tentative delivery date at that point.
As always, let me know of any questions in the mean time.
Thanks again! Griff

RE: Griff... I'm in Sweden right now... which is pretty fantastic in and of itself. However, you just raised the bar. Good work. Keep me posted, I'll be back in Madison by tomorrow, and around for the next two weeks.
Thanks, Ray

2/13 – Brain functions overload… I explain to Griff
TO: Good morning Ray. Your car is now in the hands of Bavarian Motor Transport, and has received it's assignment for shipment to Madison. It is due depart from the processing center on Friday, and be here by early next week. As soon as your car arrives here, I will get have our service department to begin the inspection and detail process, and will arrange to have the privacy glass installed right away.
The time is coming, Ray! It's almost here! Griff

RE: Griff... When I think about it... my mind sort of goes blank. Something like a that of a circuit breaker shorting out... so needless to say, I'm pretty excited here. Let me know, I'll be around all week, and I'll make sure that I'm available to come over whenever you give me the go. This thing is going to look fantastic. Big wheels, dark windows, chromed window trim, monaco blue, dakota brown leather, manual tranny... are you kidding? Woops, mind just went blank again. Talk to you soon, Ray

In the end, the car and I got together on February 18th, exactly 60 days after I had put the order in. Was it everything I expected? Yes, it was. Were my expectations ridiculous, causing me to overreact at the smallest little issue with it? Yes, they were. But, in the end it was clearly worth the wait. The style is mine, the manual transmission is 100% worth it in the 328, and as I haven’t owned a car in four years… I am happy to be back. (On a side note, it’s not the biggest deal in the world to buy a car by any means, but I’ve had more people use the word “Congratulations” with me than when I bought my home… which means my next home will be a BMW).

After picking it up on Wednesday, I went down to meet up with the Erie crew outside of Chicago at what was dubbed “McBrideapalooza 2009.” Kris & Lisa recently moved to Schaumberg, and it was high time their Erie friends paid them a visit… as I’m only two hours away, I made the trip south. It quickly became the “Wii”kend, with Wii bowling being a highlight in the first night… followed by the Aleve and Water Saturday Morning (AAWSM, pronounce: Awesome) hours filled with Wii games of Cow Racing, and balance board ski jumping. Shout out to Emily for the most exciting balance board effort of the day by completing the magic-bubble-up-the-river-dodge-the-killer-bees level… nice work.

Pizza ensued after that, which was ridiculously good. In fact, the entire weekend was centered on eating… a lot. Lisa’s kitchen is what I want for a kitchen, and Lisa’s kitchen skills are what I want for a wife… but seriously folks, we ate like kings… devoured the leftovers like Oliver Twist orphans… and then… well… drank like fish.

The afternoon was for a Pete Logan takes the new car for a spin. Did I tell you I got a new car? Anyway, the overnight snowstorm was where I showed Pete (and the car showed me), that x-Drive means x-tra-awesome-Drive… and you can accelerate in snow almost as fast as you can on dry roads. In other words, I have to be careful to avoid another Raymond Berglund Memorial Bridge incident (ask Lisa McB for details). When Pete got his chance to drive it he said, “Yes, I’m driving my future car.” We look forward to having you, sir.

Upon our return, it was preparation time to head into Chicago. We rented a stretch Navigator to bring us into town, as it was the most economical and ridiculous way we could travel. We went to a place called Mario’s for some tasty Italian. There were 14 of us in total, and the owner and staff treated our group like we were the greatest thing since sliced, toasted, and marmalade covered bread. We ate plenty, and then headed out to a huge Irish bar called The Kerryman. A few people got motivated to move out to a different location, but with time waning on our deadline to head home, we stayed put. Back in the limo, another round of Jägerbombs, and then… everyone’s favorite past-time, passed-out-in-the-limo-on-the-ride-home-picture-taking! I believe everyone had his or her moment.

Sunday… a bit more Wii, a bit more eating, watching McKay’s DVR’d 6th leg of the California Time Trials bike race, and then on the road we all went. I didn’t mind the ride.

2009-02-15T10:35:00.008-05:00

Sweden Trip 2: Rollin’ Solo. I made it back to Gothenburg, Sweden last week… mainly for work, but also because I wanted to visit a warmer climate. I flew out of Madison on Saturday afternoon, and spent about 4 hours in Chicago awaiting the flight to London. Conveniently I got myself into the exit row for the transatlantic flight… ahh, the exit row, the poor man’s business class. I landed in Heathrow around 6am, and had about 4 hours to wait for my flight into Sverige (Swedish for “Sweden”… sweet). So, what do you do in Terminal 3 at Heathrow for four hours? Well, Guvnah, spot of tea alroight. I sat down for breakfast at the O’Neils pub, had a some coffee and tea and then still had 3 hours to do nothing. The problem with Heathrow is that they don’t give you the departure gate info until 10 minutes before boarding is about to start. It completely ruins the “I’ve just flown for 7 hours already and just want to pass out next to the gate and will wake up when it’s time to board” plan, and causes everyone to hang out in a massive departure lounge with shops and restaurants. It’s alright if you’re prepared to be around a few thousand people, but it’s not fun if you’re trying to avoid SARS. I ended up putting in the iPod, and doing laps around the area until it was time to go. Occasionally stopping to check out the Scotches, electronics, and the Scotches. Eventually, it was time to go, and all the Swedish people and I departed the departure area.

A Volvo S80, a GPS, and I were all off to Gothenburg. The city is about 20km away from the airport, which means its about 20 minutes. I checked into the Hotel Liseberg Heden, and sat down to a bit of work. I always get a kick out of how other cultures approach cleanliness and methods of cleansing. This Swedish hotel believes in the power of “all in one.”

That evening, upon suggestion from the Hertz rental agent, I went up to the 23rd floor of the Gothia Towers to have a “King Size.” A sort of shrimp / salad / sandwich. It was good, a little heavy on the mayo (an all too common issue in Europe)… but I was a bit tired from the travel and called it an early night.

The week went well, working with the team in Gothenburg. We all ended up going bowling, to which I found out the Swedes, were no joke. I got crushed in the first frame, and worked my back to third in the group of seven. Honestly, it’s great to get out with people you work with everyday on a global basis… there is a very significant value in being face to face with people and other cultures. And, because we made good progress and the team is really doing well, I will be headed back in just a few short weeks! Yes, Sweden Trip 3: Hej-o Ray-o, is in line.

So, side story here. There is a restaurant called “La Terrazza” right around the corner from the hotel that I ended up going to four times in the week. I revert back to the days I’ve spent on the road for business, and if I’m in one location for a week or so, and I find a restaurant or bar that is really great… I will go again and again. You instantly become a “regular,” which was no different with La Terrazza, as on my 3rd time in they asked if I would like to sit at my table. “Yes, please.” So anyway, on the fourth time visiting on my final night there, I ordered a starter of risotto and the Capricciosa pizza… a tasty brick-oven fired thin Italian crust pizza with mozzarella, ham and mushrooms… delicious. It was a Friday night, the place was busy, and the risotto came out fantastic. Things were going well enough that I decided to get a glass of wine. I went with the Rosso di Montalcino, and was quite impressed. The nose was all plum at first, changing into a dark chocolate cherry. The taste was all dark cherry with some strong tannin backed dryness (that ‘lip-smacking’ feeling you get after you drink a Chianti, for example, but not quite as overpowering as Chianti), and that was all followed up with a finish that was back to a sweet plum that eventually turned to apricots. Yes, I took some notes, because I found it to be that good. As everyone should know, many of your senses are heightened or “sugar-coated” when your mood is positive and your surroundings are comfortable, and I was feeling like a million kronor. It was then that I realized the pizza was taking longer than normal, but no worries, life is good. When it finally arrived, I grabbed my knife and fork (as the majority of Europe refuses to acknowledge the invention of the pizza cutter) and dug right in. But it cut weird. The dough was strange, a bit rubbery, not quite baked well enough. I took a bite, something was slightly off, and the pizza wasn’t very hot. It appeared as though I had received a pizza that may have been ready quite a few minutes prior, or one that had been prepared much earlier in the evening. Now what’s your move, Kasparov? I’m generally not one to send back a meal, unless there is something fundamentally wrong with it (i.e. overcooked steak is inedible to me), and this, well… this pizza… I mean, I could eat it… it wasn’t cold… still tasted like pizza… but I’m a ‘regular’ right?… I think they’d be fine to make another one for me… right?… I’ve got nowhere to go… its Friday… I fly home in the morning… “Excuse me, I don’t think this pizza is prepared correctly, it appears to be cold.” And with that move, I killed the karma. The waitress tried to explain that it was an Italian style pizza, and that was why it was the way it was. I said, “I’ve had multiple pizzas here, and this one isn’t right.” She said, “Okay, let me check to make you a new one.” She grabbed my plate and walked to the kitchen, with just a hint of irritation in her step. As soon as she disappeared, a girl comes through the entryway from the other room of the restaurant, and right in front of me, vomits into her hands. Her mother quickly comes up from behind her and escorts her towards the restrooms. Holy crap, did anyone else see that? Another waitress emerges with two pizzas in to-go boxes for the guy waiting at the bar. He stands up, and denies the pizzas (I learn later he was afraid he would get sick also). Two other waitresses nearby stand and stare on in disbelief. He is apologetic, but then just walks out the door. Another waitress finishes an espresso, and turns with it in her hands as the upset-pizza-box-wielding waitress turns and slams the hot espresso all over her colleague. “Oh my god, what did I do?” I say to myself. The good feeling of a Friday night in an Italian restaurant in Gothenburg was gone in 60 seconds… thanks to, yours truly. In the kitchen, you hear the chef start yelling as he received three pizzas back in a one minute period, and the waitresses pick up the vomit covered rug and wipe up the espresso. How do you say, “I’m so sorry” in Swedish?

In the end, I got another hot and delicious pizza. The staff appeared to laugh it off. And I ordered another glass of wine. “Tack.”

2009-01-25T16:18:00.005-05:00

The great thing about living in the upper Midwest during the winter is that you don’t need to know conversions of temperature scales. As I am often in contact with people around the globe, the small talk as a call begins is generally around the state of the weather in each person’s respective locations. When trying to explain the cold or the heat, we often run into the issue of Celsius versus Fahrenheit and the inability for people to quickly convert it. (side note: my quick version of the conversion is to take the Celsius temperature, double it, then add 30... tah dah, Fahrenheit. And then backwards, take the Fahrenheit, subtract 30, halve the number… tah dah, Celsius… or at least close. But I digress). So last week, I had the opportunity to get rid of my quick mental math conversions for a few days as we reached the point where Celsius and Fahrenheit actually match each other on the scales. Ladies and gentlemen… -40 C or F, take your pick. Yes, this is where I now live.

So, good ol’ 345 Cardinal Medeiros Ave back in Cambridge just got rented out to a fantastic couple. I’m very excited to have my home rented out, as anyone with a mortgage who also doesn’t have a winning lottery ticket knows that those things are a bit of a financial burden.
They become a very big burden when you have to pay rent on a new home too. Speaking of my new home… how about a little bit of a sneak preview? Yes, here is the kitchen, a major reason of why I went with living here. I wanted a gas stove and an entertaining bar, and clearly I got that. As for the rest of the home, I’ve got to do a bit more of furnishing and outfitting of random stuff to give it justice.

There’s a certain reason that people end up settling into a place and sticking around for some time. Sometimes it’s children, sometimes it’s family, sometimes it’s financially driven, etc., but one thing that has affected me time and time again in the last few years are “outside services.” What do I mean? Picture being in a new location every month or two. Where would you get your haircut, say, in Freiburg, Germany (1)? How about living out of a suitcase… where do you do your laundry when on an extended stay, say, in Hachioji, Japan (2)? Where are you going to pick up a quick bite to eat late at night, say, in Echternach, Luxembourg (3)? Where should we go out for dinner and a drink on Friday night, say, in Fremont, CA (4)? These are all questions that after living in a place for some time, you can easily answer, but these are the questions I have had to get answers to again and again. I again am doing this in Madison, WI and therefore it does not feel any different from what I’ve been doing for so long. I’ve got a phenomenal barber shop up the street, the Old Fashioned on the square for a late night bite, and lots of options for Friday nights. So far, so good… but I’m thinking that around month nine, I’m going to feel like I’m going nuts and want out, we’ll see. (Answers: 1) Super Cut Salon on Auf der Zinnen, 2) Rent an apartment with Millennium, they have washers in the units… you will have to hang dry everything. 3) Octav Amadeus restaurant. 4) La Bodeguita, over the bridge in Palo Alto.)

I’m off to Gothenburg, Sweden in a week, so I’m looking forward to that. Upon my return, my car will arrive in Madison… it left the port of Bremerhaven on Wednesday, and will arrive in Charleston on February 6th… yes, I’m very excited.

2008-12-28T19:44:00.004-05:00

Another Christmas, another travel adventure. In all of my travels in the last few years, I have never had the misfortune of a laid over flight where I was stranded in a location (at least, not what I can recall). So, with now living in the upper Midwest, and winter being a fierce b*tch in this region of the world, it was bound to happen. Tuesday night, after a four hour delay out of Madison and a 45 minute wait on the tarmac to obtain a gate for our plane once we got to O’Hare… I missed the last flight to Boston by about 5 minutes. Damn.

I put my ‘Travel Ninja’ skills to good use immediately, by calling in a reservation via Hilton Honors as I walked over to the O’Hare Hilton (which is connected to the terminal). I got myself the business rate, and walked up past the gigantic and growing line for making reservations (~200 flights were cancelled that night), and walked directly to the counter for check-in. Done. I threw the bags into the room and headed down to the restaurant and sports bar lounge. The place was packed. I ended up spending the evening chatting up stories of travel from all over the globe and drinking over priced beers. The awards go to Alabama Lloyd for best stories, and Ireland Maggie for best accent. In all, if I were to have a missed flight and all night layover, I’d want it all to be there again (they could improve the food next time though).

The next morning I was off to Boston, and took a cab into Southie to my Sister and Keith’s place. Kristen was on her way back from work so I went and got a quick haircut from Harold the barber. Oh man. Great conversation, good old dude, but as all men know these days that barber shops are hit or miss. Miss. We packed up the car and headed north. Six hours later, we would arrive in Moultonborough. Around exit three, with the stop and go traffic that was I-93 North, we started hearing the rear left wheel making one heck of a noise. We pulled into the weigh station area, and would you know it, smoke was coming up from that tire. My rudimentary mechanical skills kicked in and we realized the drum brake on the rear left tire was locking down. It however was fully locked up, so we drove it, flashers on up to Exit 4 (shout out to the Derry crew), and pulled into the Shell station. Chad, aka “greatest guy on earth,” immediately too the car in, put it up on a lift, found that the hydraulics were releasing the brake, called a parts shop, and bolted out to get the part and replace it for us. But… there was a dilemma: one of my presents for Mom & Dad was a Best Buy waiting for in-store pickup. 10 miles up the road sat the gift in a store that was closing in less than one hour, and I had no ride. Sounds like a job for the Travel Ninja... start the action sequence:

Blackberry thumb speed, 30 words per minute. Google.com “Taxi, Londonderry, NH”… first listing, “Green Cab, Derry, NH”… Dial Number? Yes. *RIIIING* “Green Cab, how can I help you?” … “30 minutes? Not going to work, Merry Christmas.” *Runs to door, chimes ring, up to the counter* “Hi there, is there any other way to get around here that’s not the Green Cab taxis?” … “Ummm, there’s a livery limo company… I think the number is…” … “Thanks.” *RIIING* “Yeah, 5 minutes? Perfect, I’ll be here.” … “Kristen, Keith, I’m taking a limo to best buy.” … “What?” … Blacked out Town Car pulls up. “I need to be at Best Buy before 5pm.” … “You go it.” … 100mph, 93North to 293North, Exit 1, Mall Parking lot in a Christmas Eve sh*tshow. Traffic cones directing us in an indirect and ridiculous route. Pulls around cones… “Best if you get out here.” … “Thanks man, keep it, Merry Christmas.” *Running* “Hi, package for pickup.” … “Here it is, would you like a cart?” “Yes.” Travel Ninja.

I spent the next 30 minutes browsing the store for things I was not going to buy, just trying to spend as much time in the warm store rather than the outside waiting for K&K to arrive in the fixed car. My dying cell phone wasn’t helping out the cause, but they eventually arrived and pulled up next to me standing outside on the sidewalk with a huge box. Threw it in the car and continued the journey. If you can believe it, we even had an incident where I almost choked on a piece of Chinese candy as we stopped to pick up Chinese food on the way home, and Kristen thought she had lost her cell phone in the parking lot of the place (was not the case). By the time we got to Mom & Dad’s, I was one crab rangoon away from going insane, but T.N. keeps cool… even after 31 hours of travel and a few hundred in unexpected costs.

Christmas itself was good times. I received quite a few items for the new place in Madison, and the obligatory socks. But, as we all know it’s more about giving than receiving, and that was a great time. K&K both got Wisconsin gear, including an extremely ridiculous “Wisconsin Lei” made of foam cheese wedges and foam brats strung together. I gave the gifts away that I had picked up in Sweden in November, and then handed the ‘big dog’ gift over to Mom and Dad that took way too much effort to obtain. Seriously, it’s a good day when you see a little kid open a gift and give the “holy friggin’ crap” look… but it’s a great day when you see you parents do it. Classic.

We then headed up to Grandpa’s new house in Lincoln, NH. It’s a bit empty still, but it’s a very nice place and it was the first time I had seen it. We gave him a new stereo and a CD of Spike Jones, whom I had never previously heard of… and turns out it is entirely ridiculous. He had seen ol’ Spike back in 1946 in San Francisco, and so he was pretty excited about that. He also liked his new Wisconsin hat. We left there in the early evening and joined Tyler and Sarah back in Moultonborough for some final gift exchanging and closing out of Christmas day. Good times.

The remainder of the weekend was dedicated to relaxing with the family, hooking up Mom & Dad’s TV to K&K’s new Blu-Ray player and utilizing my new “Dark Knight” Blu-Ray DVD. We met up with the other side of the family on Saturday in Burlington, MA, and again took part in the gluttony of the holidays. I’m now on a flight to St. Louis, and then up to Madison for an early afternoon arrival. A Merry Christmas, for sure.

On another note, you may have noticed a key character missing from these last few months. The Jill and I have gone separate ways. In all that we do in life, being paired with someone for years makes you grow in a unique way, and for that I will always be grateful to her for making me a different and better person. As I transition from the life in Cambridge to a new chapter in Madison, I cannot help being disappointed in feeling as though I should have done the last chapter in a different way. It is however these life lessons that the wise learn from, and the fools are doomed to repeat. I therefore take my knowledge and reformed sense of reality with me, and pair it with optimism and for what is to come. So it goes.

2008-12-26T12:11:00.004-05:00

So, Wisconsin, what’s that all about? I’ve been here for about two months now, and have decided on a place and a vehicle. Neither are fully in my possession, so I’ll give an update on that a bit later, but for now… notes on Wisconsin:

Cheese: Everyone I talk to has two questions for me when I say I’ve moved to Wisconsin. First, it’s some variation of, “Are you kidding?” and second, it’s some variation of “How is the cheese?” Being nicknamed the dairy state and seeing ‘cheeseheads’ at Packers games could sway your thoughts towards seeing cheese stores everywhere and cows roaming around towns and cities. This, however, is not the case. Being from the Boston area, I would compare it to somebody thinking of having baked beans be available everywhere you go in Boston… which, to us from Boston, would be crazy. So, here, in the land of cheese, you just don’t have all the roadside cheese stands, fondue fountains in the town center, or cheese covered corn flakes that you might think. Don’t get me wrong though, when you do find the cheese, it’s damn good cheese.

Cold: Holy sh*t, it is cold. When they say, “the frozen tundra of Lambeau field,” they mean it. Here is a quick excerpt from the Winter Weather Advisory issued for last night (the first official day of winter) for the Madison, WI area:

“A wind chill advisory means that very cold air and strong winds will combine to generate wind chill values of 20 to 34 below. This will result in frost bite and lead to hypothermia if precautions are not taken. If you must venture outdoors... make sure you wear a hat and gloves.”

Now, I appreciate their concern for the common citizen and offering advice to wear a hat and gloves (no jacket advice?), but 34 below zero is mind-blowing cold. The next four months should be fun.

People: People here have that upper Midwest accent… “Did ya set yurr alarm clahck?” But, beyond a slightly funky accent, the people are great. Good attitudes, friendly demeanor, open and helpful, and only slightly slower moving than east coasters. Trust me, that last note is not a ‘diss’ on these folks at all, but it’s more of a message to the east coasters who think a conversation with my new ‘neighbors’ would be painfully slow. I have to give a hand to the Sheraton front desk, as they are the most welcoming crew in hotel services today. The evening trio always provides a classic “Good evening, Mr. Berrrrrglund,” welcome upon returning from my many late nights of work.

Sports: Madison does not have any professional sports teams, which was a major downfall of living in Erie in the past. However, Madison does have the University of Wisconsin, and all I can say about that is “Go Badgers.” Now, the local folks will get excited about a Milwaukee Bucks game on TV, and will freely give you their opinion on how poorly “the Pack” is playing these days… but they’ll basically always back the UW Badgers. And why not? I went to a Badgers hockey game at Kohl’s Arena, and it’s basically a professional arena (minus the beer). Then, I went to the last home game of Badgers football. I was fortunate enough to get the student section tickets, and watched them win an overtime game against Cal Poly… yep… overtime… Cal Poly… the Badgers weren’t very good this year. But, there certainly should be many more good times ahead and I’ll take advantage of cheaper tickets for collegiate games while I’m here.

Overall, things are starting out well here. I’m looking forward to more good times as I move into my new place and get my car delivered. Stay tuned.

2008-11-21T20:39:00.006-05:00

Remember the “new job, less travel” statement I made a few months back? Yeah… I lied. I’m on Northwest flight 035 from Amsterdam to Detroit on my way back from my first visit to Sweden. With a last name like Berglund, and a family history that traces back to Stockholm only 3 generations ago, it was great to finally make it up to the Scandinavian Peninsula.

Saturday evening, I drove to Chicago and took an overnight flight to Gothenburg on the South West coast of Sweden. 67 hours later, I was back on a plane and headed out of the country. Yes, it was a quick trip, but good times come in small itineraries… right? Right.

Upon arrival, I was quite excited to hear the “Welcome to Sweden” announcement from the über-lovely KLM flight attendants. I took some Swedish Krona out of the ATM, and hopped into a taxi to the hotel. The krona is a bit of pain in the ass for ‘quick guessing’ the US dollar equivalent of things, as the exchange rate is about 7 to 1. So, you’ll see all of these SEK prices and you have to quickly divide by 7… which is a great mental challenge after a few drinks. I arrived at the Hotel Liseberg Heden, and checked into my tiny room. Having worked and lived in Europe a few times, the size of the room wasn’t any surprise, but I will say that the bathroom was very well done with a heated floor full wall mirror and a shower head for someone taller than six foot plus (a rare find anywhere in the world).

I joined up with the team for a quick meeting at 6pm, and then we were off to the Liseburg Park. Christmas in Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries is a pretty big deal. Afterall, I think Finland invented Santa Claus… which… is awesome. Therefore Liseburg Park in recent days had been transformed into it’s Christmas wonderland look. It was quite nice, but not a whole lot was going on… except for the ice bar. We donned the ‘space coats’, and entered into a bar with all of its parts made completely from the ice of the Torne River. The vodka of choice? Absolut, of course! Yes, it was good times.

The next day, we had a tour of the facility, meetings throughout the rest of the day, and then we were off for some ‘team-building’ entertainment. The peculiar thing about this team-building event was that it was the individual sport of go-karting. What’s up with that? These go-karts were the professional high-speed kind, where we had a practice run, a qualifying run, and then a final race. How did Team Ray do? Well… ‘we’ won. Fastest lap time, and first place in the final. For the rest of the night, ‘my team’ didn’t rub it in, but ‘we’ did wear ‘our’ medal at dinner and out to the bar. Go team.

Tuesday, again was an all day meeting, some breakout sessions, and then dinner at a Thai restaurant of all places. Yes, when in Sweden, eat your Thai! It did however turn out to be pretty good, so when the next time you’re in Göteburg, and you’d like a change of pace from the meatballs and the sill, try Amazing Thai.

In all, despite a short time in the “motherland,” I think I got a pretty good feel for the people, the culture, the food, and even the nightlife. I loved it, and I look forward to going back quite a few times in the coming years as we continue to grow and develop our business there. Go there, try that.

2008-11-09T11:10:00.003-05:00

If you threw a dart on a map, you probably wouldn’t hit Israel. Why? Well, for one, its square mileage is less than that of the great state of New Hampshire’s, and for two… well… for one is good enough. As I begin this new job, which I am sure, will contain less travel than the previous role, I’ve certainly got some busy weeks of travel ahead of me… including the week ahead in Israel.

Friday 10/31, 5:01pm EST – So begins my first attempt at a running diary. I’ve got a busy week ahead, so we’ll see if this works out. Flight 84 from Newark to Tel Aviv is where I’m currently at, traveling seven time zones away over the next 10 hours, crammed into the wonderful world of coach. I’ve flown so much in the past few years that I find an entire flight’s experience is often determined by the collective mood of the passengers well before boarding. A late night delayed connector flight to a small town like Erie at the end of a week? Quiet, reserved, and defeated. A Friday afternoon flight into Boston before a long weekend? Excited, optimistic, chatty (make it a weekend before a Red Sox playoff game and I’d throw in ‘cocky’ to that mix as well). Well, this flight is ‘uneasy,’ at best… and I’ll give it ‘confused’ while we’re at it. I won’t put out any stereotypes here, but if you’ve ever heard a friend describe the antics of their Jewish grandparent or aunt or uncle, take that mental image, multiply it by about 250 (or however many people you can squeeze onto a Boeing 777), and you’ve got the mood of my flight. Take it or leave it, I’m living it, and as I chalk it all up to going there and trying it… I’m loving it. I’m looking forward overall to the experience, meeting up with my team there, and checking another country off the list. I’ll keep you posted.

Friday… er, Saturday? 10/31, ?:??am Atlantic Ocean Time? – I’m quite enjoying Continentals personal entertainment options. Just finished the movie Get Smart, with Steve Carrell, and I’m watching an episode of Scrubs. Scrubs is a great show, and I think it perfectly rated. Anyway, just heard a great quote from Dr. Cox on why he gets out of be in the morning, “Scotch? Well, it’s too early to drink it, but it’s never too early to think about it.” (Note: The lack of an inter-seat trivia game on their entertainment system is a big miss by Continental).

Saturday 11/1, 7:00am IST (Israel Standard Time) – Yeah, I made up IST, but apparently we’re coming into Israel pretty soon and there’s some wacky security regulations here. Besides the fact that you have to go through a special security check before you get onto the flight in Newark (which consists of only a metal detector wand), when we’re coming into Israeli airspace, everyone is required to take their seats and not move for the remainder of the flight. Well, I guess I’ll be sitting here for little bit… in the name of security.

Saturday 11/1, 10:43am IST – I’ve made it to the hotel… the Dan Accadia in Herzliya. The issue with flying in at the time that we flew in is that it’s before noon, and there is no checking in. Therefore, I’m sitting in the lobby, feeling that “I just took a 10 hour flight” feeling, and waiting for my room to be prepared. The hotel is right on the Mediterranean… this should be a good time.

Saturday 11/1, 5:26pm IST – I just watched the sunset over the Mediterranean, quite impressive really, as this country looks out due West over the sea. It however is night out already, making me a bit skeptical on the time zone they’re actually in here. Time for food.

Sunday 11/3, 12:44am IST – Well, the first day is done, and it was great. In the morning, I had breakfast overlooking the Medi. Supposedly every hotel is kosher here, and therefore, my breakfast is as well. That means smoked salmon, bread, eggs, and about 15 kinds of creamy cheeses. That was fine for me, as I’m a happy guy with some hardboiled eggs, fruit, and coffee. The day was good too, as I went to the office for the first time and me the entire team there. Great people and a lot of energy… I’m excited to be working with them for the next few years. I’ve figured that I’ll come to Israel once every three months for the next few years… isn’t that exciting? Yes, it is. This evening, we went into Tel Aviv and ate at the Herbert Samuel along the main drive, near the American Embassy (which overlooks the ocean). It was delicious. The thing about dining here, is that they bring about 20 plates and cover your table with a bunch of incredible different sides before your meal comes. It’s really incredible, because if you finish one kind, it takes about five seconds before they bring another plate of the same thing.

Friday 11/7, 6:56am IST / 11:56 EST – Well, the running diary didn’t workout. As expected I got quite busy during the week, and just didn’t keep up with the diary. Nor, did I take many pictures… nobody wants to see inside the office anyway. So, I’m on the plane… we’ll be landing in Newark soon, the jet lag is going to be all out of whack, but I don’t mind. Let’s summarize Israel. Great food. Crappy cars. Lacking infrastructure (as far as roads/mass transport/etc.). High security. On the last three items, it’s all a part of being a country for only 60 years in a part of the world that simply does not want you there. But, how does that apply to the cars? Well… the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) need money to protect the small country, so taxes are extremely high. For example… a Honda Civic in the US will cost about $22k with some good options. In Israel, that same Civic will cost you ~$50k. Yeah, I know, ridiculous right? Right. But, let’s end this post on the food piece. On my last day, I had falafel, of which I had had it once before and didn’t like it. Well, I had noticed that the fish, steaks, sandwiches, schwarmas, etc. were all phenomenal in the country, and it turns out the falafel was no different. The Goldstar beer was good, but I found a new imported favorite… Tuborg. If you have the chance to try it, do so… delicious.

Well, that’s it. The lack of pictures isn’t necessarily a result of me being lazy, but more busy… but don’t worry, I’ll be back in Israel in February. Good times, for sure.

2008-10-25T13:32:00.010-04:00

The longest drought in Go There Try That history will now come to an end. Where have I been the last month? Boston, San Diego, Milwaukee, Madison, Houston, and Cincinnati. As I had mentioned before, I had to get a job, and get one I did. I’ll explain that a little later.

When we last spoke, I was on a plane to San Diego, CA to join Mark Lane and the friends of Easta Green Music to record Collin Whelley’s debut album, Waiting for Bolivia. The recording session was over a four-day period, which meant a lot of work in a little time. Collin’s album will be a total of 11 songs, penned by him while living in Bolivia in 2006 with a few written upon his return home. The sound is that of a great singer-songwriter, with thoughtful lyrics and catchy melodies… very catchy, in fact. Mark is producing the album, and his ability to put together good song structure, layer different sounds and make Collin sing and sing and sing again the same line until it was perfect, should all make a great overall work. As for my parts, well… I was a third ear to listen to things and confirm whether they sound good or not, I played some piano on a song called “Rabbit Hole,” organ on “Elana,” jug (growler) on “Waiting,” and rocked out a guitar solo on “Augustine.” Yes, I still rock. Besides the recording, we were sure to take advantage of what San Diego does best… and that would be burritos, rock shows, sushi, and burritos. Yes, the good times are always a little better in Southern California.

I had to depart from San Diego at 7am on Sunday to head to Madison, WI. I flew into O’hare and drove the two hours north through ‘the flatness’ to the small city of Madison. It was time to find a job, and it was time to interview for about a thousand of them. I drove to Milwaukee on Monday and interviewed with nine different people for three different jobs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a confident guy and I like myself… a lot… but there is a point when talking about yourself makes you want to throw up. The interviews went very well, and I hopped back in the car and drove the hour back through ‘the flatness’ to Madison. I was hungry, and so The Google found me an Indian Restaurant in downtown “Mad-town” named Maharani. Delicious. The next day, was four more interviews for one job in Madison, WI. It was a great set of interviews and a very interesting job… yes… I ended up taking this one.

On Tuesday evening after the Madison interviews, I drove back to O’Hare and hopped a plane to head to Houston, TX. What was on tap? More interviews. Over the two days I spent in Houston, I interviewed with 10 different people for two different jobs. One of these jobs, at an Oil & Gas equipment business on the north side of the city was an excellent job, and the team was absolutely fantastic. So, now, you can see where the dilemma comes in with the excellent jobs and the welcoming teams… which one would you choose? In Houston, I realized that Hurricane Ike was no joke. Street lights all over the city were busted up, and so cops were directing traffic all over the place, and multiple people at the businesses where I was interviewing actually had no power for over a week! I declare that insane. But, I guess that’s what happens when it’s the third most destructive hurricane to ever hit the United States (behind Andrew and Katrina). That’s right, did you even know that it was that bad? Fact, it killed 164 people... 82 in the USA?! Ridiculous. I still can’t get over the fact that it was basically a non-event outside of the gulf area, but when I got down there it was just shy of a war zone.

So anyway, I left Houston (which, I must admit, is a pretty impressive city which I enjoyed thoroughly), and headed back to Boston for two nights. Sunday, I was back on a plane to Cincinnati. Yes, for some reason the jobs I looked at were all straight down the center of the USA. It was good to be back in Cincinnati, as I had not been there since the winter of ’05-’06 when I had started this traveling gig as an auditor. I spent all day Monday interviewing with seven people for two different jobs. Again, it was a great group of people, great jobs, and just one more wrench in the gears of my brain’s decision-making machine.

At that point, I was done interviewing, and flew home to Boston on Monday morning. Four cities, eight jobs, now what? Well, I had some thinking to do, but one of them felt just slightly more right than the others… and I ended up taking the job in Madison, WI. Admittedly, you probably don’t think it’s very glamorous to be moving from Cambridge, MA to Madison, WI… and, well, you’d be right, but sometimes you stop with the pro’s and con’s, you clear your mind of all the ‘advice’ you get, and you can often just know the best decision. I made it, and well, it’s been good so far. I’ll bring you up to speed on that in another post shortly.

For now, let’s recap what the last three years were in terms of actual travel. Starting on August 22, 2005, I drove from Moultonborough, NH to Stamford, CT for my Orientation on becoming an auditor. On October 1, 2008, I flew from Cincinnati, OH to Boston, MA from my final interview to select the next job. Here’s what happened during those 1,136 days in between:

229,301… miles in total traveled distance ‘as the crow flies’

8.4… mph average speed I was moving at all times (even sleeping)

7,286… miles of longest travel from Hino, Japan to Orlando, FL

174… changes from location to the next

6.5… average days spent in each location

9… countries visited (USA, Canada, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Germany, France, Japan, Australia, England)

4… continents visited (North America, Europe, Asia, Australia)

51… cities/towns visited

66… trips “home” (27 to Moultonborough, 23 to Cambridge, and 15 to Erie)

9.2… equivalent times I circled the Earth.

It’s been a very good time, and I think I can truly say that I’ve gone there, and tried that… but I also know, there’s more to come.

2008-09-20T11:36:00.001-04:00

I bought a book. The title is, “Islam: for Dummies.” Do I have your attention? Yeah, I thought so. The reason I’ve purchased this book is not to convert to another religion, but mainly for the sake of learning what all the fuss is about. Every single day, all of America is exposed to news story that contains something related to the Islamic world. I figured, if I hear it every day, and I have no idea what it’s all about, I might as well try and get a clue. In the first five seconds I learned the basics of what is the difference between a Shi’ite and a Sunni… tah dah, the world becomes that much more in focus. I would suggest it to everyone; a little education can go a long way.

One little tidbit of information that I learned in the first chapter was the percentages of people in the world. Christians still dominate, but the Muslims aren’t far behind. You’ve got a few more folks in there until you come to Judaism, where only 0.23% of the population follows the old book. I was actually surprised at how comparatively few people are involved with Judaism, and I guess that’s probably why I have never been to a Jewish wedding… that is, until last weekend.

Yes, Jake Chused and Terri Fefee were married in North Reading, Massachusetts in a traditional Jewish ceremony, and a ridiculously good time. Jake asked me over a year ago to get involved as a groomsman, of which most of my duties were fulfilled with a debaucherous trip to Vegas in April, and I was glad to be a part of the ceremony too. I rocked the tux, donned my yamica, walked down the aisle, stood for a while, yelled “mazel tohf!” and walked back down the aisle… Jewish wedding, check!

The reception that followed had two significant aspects to it. One, Jake Chused is a foodie and he was on top of that for this event. Six courses that event went so far as to have an ‘intermezzo’ of lemon sorbet and fresh fruit. That was impressive. The second, was that Terri Fefee likes to get up and dance, and the reception was one of the most lively and active that I have ever witnessed. A great DJ kept everyone going, and I will give the award now to the Erie-Crew, for displaying ferocity for dominating the good times. Case in point: we started the wave. Yeah, you heard it, the wave went around the room. Can you believe that? I can, I was there, and we started it. (Please note, I refer to myself as part of the Erie-Crew despite my absence of a full time residence there for three years… but once a part of the EC, always a part of the EC… you hear that, Logan… always).

So there you have it… good times. I’m now on a flight to San Diego, it’s time to record Collin Whelley’s album “Waiting for Bolivia.” Stay tuned… an early 2009 release is expected.

2008-09-18T15:53:00.006-04:00

Well… what a run. The last three and a half years have brought me around the world, have taught me more about cultures, business, airports, and myself more than I could have expected. Now, it’s time to turn a corner, and find a new opportunity. I will be staying with the same business, but the travel part of my life will now slow down and I might actually be able to call a place ‘home’ that I will see more than once per month. So, in the essence of recapping the these three great years and looking back beyond where this blog begins in June of 2006, here’s how it all began …

In July of 2005, I went on what is called a ‘pilot’ program, where you basically work on this auditing job of mine for a four-week period and “tryout” for the team. I worked just north of Chicago on a process of software capitalization. I had no idea what I was doing, but I figured out a few things, and ‘completed’ my area in less than the four weeks that was needed. Back then it was Peter J. and Jimmy C. showing me the ropes on how to get into this job, and we made sure that good times were had in Chicago… including visiting Wrigley behind home plate, and watching the Red Sox beat the White Sox on the south side. I also randomly met up with Norder and friends to party for the weekend that my colleagues were out of town, and ended up crashing at Macko’s apartment in Greek Town while she was off… where else? Auditing! So, the four weeks ended, and I got the call that I was “in.” Excellent, let it begin. So, I packed my things, left Erie, PA, and dropped it all off in storage or at my parents house in NH.

I headed down to Stamford, Connecticut for ‘orientation’ and to meet my ‘class’ with whom I’ve worked with for the last three years. A cast of international characters to say the least, we had folks from every corner of the globe… most of them a bit ahead in their finance careers than my 23 year old self. After partying and getting to know each other (and some classes happened too… I think), we headed to our first ‘conference’ in Tampa, Florida. I joined some of the Euro’s early in Tampa, including GH, Marchand, Benoit, and Henrik. They were going to fly home for the short weekend, and there were some Miami Vices to be had by the pool with plenty of 151 floats, oh my. It was that week that we were introduced to the entire 450-person cast of characters, and I knew then that this was a great decision; a lot of energy, a huge network of intelligent people, and what felt like a catapult to the forefront of what is happening in the business world. Let’s roll!

The first audit was supposed to be in Budapest, Hungary. I had my visa getting lined up, I had my passport ready to go, and the weekend before leaving I got the call that things had changed and I was headed to Louisville, Kentucky. There, I met up with my first official team, including Doctah Bharat, Swati, Ms. Lukito, Priscilla, and our fearless leader Jawad. I was the new guy, but I brought energy to the table for this team. I also brought some knowledge of Scotch. Story Time! At our first team dinner with our senior and executive managers at a restaurant called Vincenzo’s in Louisville, we came to the dessert course. The place was really nice, so I asked if they had any Highland Park 12 on hand, and if I could get a dram of that for my dessert. He confusedly left and came back saying that they did not have it, so I went with what was the safest bet at the time, Glenmorangie 10, and he again departed to the backroom. It was then that an older woman came out and walked to our table and asked, “Who was requesting the whisky?” Great, now it had become a production, after I had begun this discretely. I nodded and she hesitantly came over to my somewhat ignorant looking baby-faced self, and she displayed for me a blue box that read, “Macallan 30.” Holy old whisky, Batman, I had never laid my eyes nor lips on a 30 (oh how things were to change). I asked how much, and got the reply of, “$75 for a glass.” I was aware that I a glass was 1.5 fluid ounces, and I was aware that the entire table was looking at me… but I was also aware that it wasn’t but two weeks before that I had received a substantial raise and had also done away with rent and utility payments… “Sure, I’ll have one.” I got the tiny pour, sipped with all eyes on me, and tasted dark chocolate and orange in an oily full-bodied scotch that was absolutely phenomenal. I thanked her for bring it out, and she spoke about how they must go to Scotland to get it, and that they keep it there for the Chairman of my company*. The entire table looks at her and my senior manager says his name, and their eyes shift down to me and I raise my glass and say, “To the Chairman.” (* please note, I don’t mention my companies name in the blog, because then I’d have to put all sorts of disclaimers in here).

After Louisville, the team headed up to good ol’ Plainville, CT where we ended up playing lazer tag with the finance team and the CFO and I basically had an all out slug fest via little lazer guns. I was in Plainville for about a week or two, and then Priscilla and I were sent up to Markham, Ontario, just outside of Toronto (the first of my three trips to work in the Greater Toronto Area). It was at this time that reality began to sink in… the travel, the workload, the disdain people feel for auditors… but it was also at this time that the ‘good things’ offset all of this. What was the good thing for Markham? Indian food. I had never experienced Indian food until I stopped at random at a place called Rasoee (which means Kitchen in Hindi). When I had the tikka wrap, and the chicken biryani, I was blown away, and I had Indian food for every night for the next 30 days. Ever since then, my favorite food has been Indian food (along with Papa Gino’s pizza… oh man, that stuff is good). Ah, the weather began to get colder, and it was in the first week of November that I got the call, “Ray, this audit is dissolving as we need the team members elsewhere, you are headed to Cincinnati to join another team.” Pack it up, pack it in, and let me begin… again.

Enter the ridiculous zone. In Cincinnati, due to some sort of export control things, most international folks couldn’t see the things we were working on, and so it was basically 9 Americans and then Shokker. I still ask to this day why anyone thought this was a good idea to send me to this team, but they did, and I went, and November 2005 to January 2006 was a great time in the Midwest. I feel like I remember little of what actually occurred there, but it was on this team that I met a great core of people who are both great colleagues and friends to this day. Knightly, JWalt, Brasser, Eckl, JV, Caloia, and the rest of that insane team were all destined for big things, and it was great to get to know them on the ground floor. Highlights from that time include: crushing shrimp at Juan Pablo’s, getting my haircut with a straight razor by a woman named Debbie at Mitchell’s (best haircut ever… even over the Japanese barber), renting out a box at Churchill Downs for a race day where they were understaffed and allowed us to maintain our own open bar… riiiiight, eating at Beluga sushi restaurant multiple times including a great New Year’s party, driving 2 hours in the snow to obtain a original Nintendo Entertainment System with Tecmo Bowl and other classics, driving 3 hours at midnight to a casino in Indiana after the Rose Bowl and simply not making it in the next day, stopping at Wal-Mart to pick up all the Bengals gear we could buy before seeing the first playoff game in Cincinnati in 15 years, and the quote I shall never forget by my manager Brian on the night of his promotion as I was standing by the bar waiting to put my order in: “Get me four miller lites, some cheese fries, and meet me on the dance floor! Woooo!” as he danced away. Wow. Not only did we make it out alive, but we were stronger for it… a great group of people who have all given me great support and camaraderie in the last three years and likely for many to come.

That audit closed and we were off to conference again, but this time in Washington, D.C. This was the annual ‘dinner dance’ conference where we all brought dates along for the opening weekend and had the black tie gala on Saturday night. The conference all begin to blur together a bit, but dim sum with Kurtz, and meeting up with my cousin Jen at the close of the week were good times that I remember from then. It was also here that I met my new team for which I would join them in Trevose, PA, just north of Philadelphia.

The Philly audit was a big one for me, as I finally figured out what was going on in this world of finance, and also was able to step up as a bit of a leader of fun and of course, gastronomy. We stayed in the old city for the first couple of weeks before moving up to Trevose, and we took full advantage of the multiple amazing restaurants there. Maybe most importantly, we ensured some late night stops to Pat’s and Geno’s late night for some ridiculously good cheesesteaks. I found Philadelphia to be a great city, and was glad that I could experience it as it came to life over the spring months in 2006. In fact, I liked it there so much that my family came down to visit during Easter. We took advantage of all the historic locations of the former capitol of the United States, saw the room where they drafted the constitution and of course the liberty bell. One of the most peculiar experiences was when my parents asked me to find a church that we could go to so that we could do the Christian thing, hear everyone’s favorite story of resurrection, and then get on back to it in December. I worked the google magic, and found none other than the Arch Street United Methodist Church, and hey! wouldn’t you know, they’ve even got a shorter service at 8am! Now, that’s what we’re going for… little bit of “Christ is risen” while the coffee is still hot. So, we get ourselves ready and head into the newer part of the city to the church, and walk in… to the side door. I suppose it could have been a clue that there maybe were about 15 – 20 people in total going into the church on the holiest day of the Christian year. Maybe another clue should have been the fact that the room we were going into was actually more like a Sunday school room and there were no pews, but rows of folding chairs setup. Clues were no longer needed when we were directed to a box of hand held musical instruments and encouraged to choose one. “Uh oh,” said the Berglunds. Now, there’s many ways you can get into your faith, and one of them clearly includes an all out sing-a-long with maracas, tambourines, and other various noisemakers. I was a bit weirded out at first, but then it was just so over the top that you couldn’t do anything but laugh at the situation. A couple of hymns (with everyone jamming away with their ridiculous instruments), a story I’ve heard many times, a reading, and then bada-bing! the kingdom of heaven was open. We left there, and have been joking about “Remember Easter in Philly,” ever since.

It was during that time that I flew out to San Diego to record Dojo Joe’s “The Tokyo EP” with Mark Lane. Out of four days of partying and three of recording, we had an album. I think the ‘hobby’ that music is for me is a bit of a release, but more a chance to be a bit creative in short spurts. Write some lyrics, write some music, rock it out… it’s a great process, a lot of fun, and if you have a friend who owns his own record label, well… it makes it that much easier.

Conference was in Orlando after the review in Philadelphia ended. It was another good time, and as always, a bit of a bender with the best people around. We stayed right next to Universal Studios that time, and had the park rented out one night. Free roller coasters and the ‘drop ride’ with no lines? Yes, please. It was there that I met up with the new team for my first stint in Europe for work. We had a brief kickoff for the review in Milwaukee, where the River Splash festival was going on. Milwuakee is good for things that aren’t good for you, and that includes the “beer bong for charity” station. Someone did manage to snap a picture of me putting the ‘fun’ in funnel, but it was Colvin who passed out after his that was the star of the show. Lesson learned: Don’t forget to breathe.

The team departed Mil-ay-wah-kay (the Algonquin’s call it “the good land”) and went to separate locations; some to Norway, some to Germany, and Davide Falco and I were off to Lyon, France. We spent the first few days in the SAS tower, the highest hotel in Europe, and took in the view… but it was much too expensive, and it was then that we moved down to Rue Merciere. And that, my friends, is where this story, and this blog began… at a dinner at La Traboulerie.

So, I’ve got some work to do now as I determine where I’ll end up. Boston would be great, but the jobs simply aren’t there. I’ll be sticking in the domestic market, but will have to fly back home for birthdays, weddings, holidays, etc. I’m now on the flight back from the final conference that just wrapped up LA, where I was able to meet up with my cousin Brad for a few drinks and some sushi, and also enjoy the last of the good times with the great people I’ve been working with. It’s been 3 years 1 month and 21 days since I started this traveling gig, and despite the changes that are coming, I’ll keep this blog going. It’s been a great way to be creative in short spurts.

2008-08-24T20:37:00.006-04:00

Mountains, fresh air, ~200 beers… it’s the way to relax when John Armstrong marries Kristen Fallon. I hopped the Friday afternoon flight from SFO to Salt Lake City, and checked off another state on the “Hit the 50 in a Lifetime” tour. (Note: I’m at 27 of 50… nothing special, but ahead of schedule compared to American male life expectancy). If you haven’t flown into Salt Lake City yet, you should give it a go. It’s a city in an expansive flat valley surrounded by large rocky and dried browned mountains. I didn’t see anything about the lake, but I’m sure it was there somewhere. I grabbed the Ford Explorer, and drove into the mountains towards Park City.

I arrived at the Stein Erikson Lodge, and realized, just because you’re paying a lot and just because there are hundreds people running around to help you, it doesn’t mean they’re very helpful. Ah yes, here I am, complaining about one of the nicest locations I’ve ever been in, but it could be that slightly bitter feeling you get whenever you have to pay ~$300/night to do anything. However, I can move on from that since I was able to accost them, as many others have done, on the site TripAdvisor.com.

After checking in and dropping the bag off, I headed down to the house that Ando was able to score for the weekend. It was good times down there, and we made the most out of the gorgeous place. Classic acts including Knightly, Ando, Nazz, and Feretti were destined to provide for a weekend of good times, guaranteed. Nazz was master of the grill the first evening, cooking up steaks, chicken, and bacon. Yes… bacon, on the grill. And when I say grill, I suppose I should say “grilling center,” as the house we were in would probably run in the $2mm+ range, and you can’t just have any old grill at such a place. Post dinner, there was debate on whether Army would be out for a drink, and that was confirmed when he called us to head up to the Stein bar. We arrived, had a beer with Army, who had been celebrating a bit since the rehearsal dinner, and then headed back down to the “cottage” for a bit of high altitude debauchery. I won’t get too deep into it, but there was quick destruction of a 30 pack (at 4% alcohol, thanks, Utah), and the wearing of a box. Good times for sure, but we had a wedding to get to the next day.

After breakfast was served, seven of us piled into the conveniently manufactured 7-passenger Explorer and headed out of the mountains down into Salt Lake City to the Cathedral of the Madeleine. It was a gorgeous place for sure, but the inside had a colorful “willy wonka” feel to it, where you were unsure if altar boys would come out, or oompa-loompas who would sing a song about marriage and fidelity. Luckily it was the former, and after my favorite wedding ritual, the “full mass,” an hour and ten minutes of stand up, sit down, lamb of god, and also with you… Mr. and Mrs. John Armstrong were married. The crew piled back in, we drove back to the mountains and relaxed on the back porch… as our uninformed selves missed the happy hour, which began at 4:45 (yes, the website says it… yes, we all are bad friends).

The evening was good times at the Stein Eriksen, with good food, good fun, and a jazzy live band. A bit of dancing occurred, but it wasn’t anything too crazy with the 70-80 people that appeared to have trekked to the mountains for the weekend. Plenty of good drinks though kept things smooth until it was time to go back to the house for some post-reception activities. Again, no details needed, just that it required a towel to dry off, a larger tip for the maid, and some Aleve on the following day. Sunday was departure day, and after Knightly, JWalt and I hit a few golf balls to try and force us outside for a few minutes, the airport lounge was a convenient home for a few hours, followed by a restful flight back to SFO for me. Good wedding, good friends, good weekend.

2008-08-20T02:04:00.008-04:00

Fact: Summer is awesome. I know I really don’t need to back up that statement, however I will, with only more facts. Welcome to WFCT, the Fact Channel, “Every 15 seconds, another fact.” Read on.

Sometimes during the summer you hear questions like, “Ray, what have you been up to lately?” To which I generally reply, “Oh you know, the same ol’ same ol’… golf, record labels, weddings, and auditing.” But beyond that, you may have been wondering just what Easta Green music has been up to, and it’s been a lot… and so here’s a brief update from the recently released Newsletter #5!

First off, there is a brand new website which highlights the growth of Easta Green and the work that Mark has been putting into building up the “repertoire.”

Second off, there is a guy named Collin Whelley that some of you might know from New Hampshire, Colorado, or Bolivia fame, but he has been working with product Mark J. Lane to put out a full length album coming likely in early 2009.

Lastly, Wendy Darling has put out their first full-length album titled, “…half-told bedtime stories,” and published it through Easta Green! (see the album cover above) The album is great, as Cori Rush is a phenomenal and very unique female vocalist, but don’t let me tell you, take a look at the reviews:

Nominated for “Best Pop Act” at San Diego Music Awards

IndieRockReviews.com – “comparisons to great bands from past and present could go on but to put it simply Wendy Darling has bright lights in their future”

San Diego Tribune Review – “Rush commands attention without mangling her lyrics or engaging in empty vocal acrobatics… but she is savvy enough to use her influences as reference points, not destinations, and the 10 songs on “Half-Told Bedtime Stories” grow more fetching with each new airing.”

San Diego City Beat Review (Girls on Top) – “Wendy Darling… is finally getting local radio play, packing the Beauty Bar and other venues for live shows.”

Want to hear them? Free preview!

Check it out, because there’s a lot going on with Easta Green Music and that’s my best suggestion for a new album out there… Wendy Darling. (Note: If you like something harder, go get One Day As A Lion… it’s Zach de la Rocha from Rage Against The Machine doing a five song EP that brings you back to the glory days of Rage).

So, what else is going on? Well, Dojo Joe reunited for a weekend of good times in the Bay Area. A Corvette ZHZ was on tap, along with sake, sushi, and ceviche. Mr. Mark showed up on Friday evening, carrying none other than a burrito from Señor Koteeha’s and sporting a full out mustache… yes, this is reality, and yet, it can’t be. So we rode into the city, hit up Japantown, a house party, and then headed back to the heart of downtown Freemont… center of the cultural universe. The next day brought a late start, and then golf. We played 18 holes on a very small 9-hole course just around the corner from my apartment. A bit of match play, followed by skins which made it interesting, followed by me trying to “shoot the gap”… to which I sacrificed a completely reasonable five balls to the swampy rough. Seriously, the wind was with me… I almost had it. How do you follow up a round of golf in the California sun? La Bodeguita of course. Ceviche, rum, westmalle dubbel, empanadas… oh man, you name it, it’s delicious and I’ve had it. The Dutchman joined us for dinner, as it’s always a good time to have the Dutchman in tow… makes your experience have a couple more exclamation points. Finally, Sunday came… and what do you do on Sunday? You go get some dim sum at the Pearl City Seafood Restaurant in China town, some beers at Neptune’s on Pier 39, some music at The Saloon, and some dinner at Sodini’s while talking to the lovely and strongly opinionated Ana. San Francisco… I’m feeling like a regular, just in time to say goodbye. What happens next? Fact: More to come.

2008-07-28T00:46:00.013-04:00

Party with your parents! That’s just what I did after a long week in Connecticut when I got back to the bay area. My parents followed flew in later on Saturday once I had returned in the morning, and I picked them up from San Jose airport. What do you feed two hungry parents? Cuban food at La Bodeguita del Medio! Yes, that’s right, another meal at the restaurant of choice for my time out here. Of course the ceviche was on tap, but I’ll mention another thing here… the beer. They happen to have a Westmalle Dubbel in a bottle at La Bodeguita, which is a delicious Belgian Trappist ale. It’s one of my favorite beers, and I haven’t had the opportunity to have it since visiting the Bier Markt in Toronto, and so I make sure to take advantage each time I show up.

Sunday was one of those tourist days where the walk you start turns into a bit of an epic journey of many miles. In all, we estimate we walked five miles. We parked at Pier 39, and went out to see the sea lions at the end of the pier. They barked, they laid there, tourists took photos. Yeah, sea lions. Then, it was time for some crab chowder at the Crab House, along with Fat Tire ale… another favorite of mine. After that bite to eat, we were off across the Fisherman’s wharf area. If you’ve been to the lakes region of New Hampshire, then you might know of Weirs Beach. If you know of the Weirs, then picture that times about 1,000 and you get Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s actually a bit like Virginia Beach now that I consider it. Either way, it’s something that you have to see once, and then you probably won’t bother again… until you need a t-shirt that says “San Francisco” on it.

We stopped at Boudin sourdough bakery, the historic ships on the pier, and kept on walking towards Crissy Field. An old runway when the point of San Francisco was a military base, Crissy Field became the joke of the day as we kept saying, “well, it’s right up here,” yet it was much further than expected. Our next stop after the ships was Ghirardelli Square. Being a gigantic fan of dark chocolate, this was a necessary stop on the way to Crissy Field, and also had been lauded by other visitors to San Francisco that I had spoken with. Well… nothing really happens at Ghirardelli Square, so I don’t get it. I did however manage to pick up some 86% dark chocolate and an espresso to keep on trucking. Trucked up through Fort Mason, down along the marina, and finally to Crissy Field… which, in all its glory, is just a field.

Now, at this point, there really was only one choice, and that was to finish the journey to the Golden Gate Bridge and Fort Point national historic site. We were on about hour five or six of our journey on what you can see as a very cloudy and/or foggy day. And when it’s a cloudy day, why would you wear sunscreen, right? Well… after we managed to hail a cab back to the car at Pier 39, we decided that some food at Great Eastern in Chinatown was in order, and it was there that we realized we had thoroughly cooked our faces. I’m sure we looked a bit strange to most of the folks in the packed house with our bright pink faces, but it made for a funny dinner.

Monday was the day to head up into wine country. The weekends in the summer get insanely packed, and so the best time to go is during the week. We headed to Sonoma first and went to the Sonoma market, one of the finest small town markets I have ever experienced. After a bite to eat, we headed first to the Valley of the Moon Winery, which has been in operation as a winery since 1863, and enjoyed the tasting room, aging room, and a walk through the vineyard, as we were the only people there. Next up, was another one of the Heck Estates vineyards in Sonoma valley called Kenwood Vineyards. Again, this place was simply just a bar with a bunch of options and you had a couple of small glasses of wine. Many people like Sonoma valley more than Napa valley due to the ‘farm’ feel of the area, but it all depends on the winery in my opinion, and that is why Mondavi is the best place to visit.

We headed over the Sugarloaf Ridge via Trinity Road, which is an unmarked road that brings directly into Oakville (north of Napa) and right into wine country. I highly suggest taking this route as the views are great, and getting into Napa can be a pain with the two-lane road on a busy day. It was near the end of the day when we arrived, but we got right into one of the last tours of the Mondavi Winery. There is a reason that Mondavi is the most well known name in California and for that matter American vineyards. Robert Mondavi, in 1966 when he opened his Vineyard, built a visitor center before visitors ever came to vineyards and subsequently invented wine tasting. Yes, invented wine tasting. Our tour guide Mary Beth was fantastic with answering both general and technical questions, and giving just enough details to keep it interesting and give us a great background on how wine making happens at Mondavi. Fascinating fact of the day: the oldest vines will have a root depth of 20 to 30 feet. I would call that unbelievable, but the Viticulture & Enology department of UC Davis report “Grapevine rooting patterns: A comprehensive analysis and review” confirms this. We walked through the vineyards, saw the aging rooms, and then had a great sit-down tasting to finish off the tour. Cheers to Mondavi, as it’s a must see if you’re headed up through Napa.

The next day was Muir Woods, and the $5 entrance fee is certainly worth the walk in the woods. Towering red woods and the great trails they have put through the woods make it a very popular attraction, so much so that that parking lot was full on a Tuesday. (Note: don’t park way down the road, just make some laps around the parking lot as people are in an out of the woods all day long). We walked up through the main trails of the Cathedral and Bohemian groves, and also took some time to go up through to the Alice Eastwood camp. For most, you get it about five minutes into the walk that the trees are big and old (about 1,000 years). But if you take your time and are willing to relax and keep on walking along the paths, you can get away from the foot traffic on some of the side trails and get into the woods. I suggest this, since I and likely many other people, just don’t get outside enough. After Muir woods though, if you want to get back into your car for an amazing viewing experience, take the Panoramic highway up towards Mt. Tamalpais, and take a right at the fork to get up an amazing view of the city and the Ocean.

The drive took us to Sausalito, a beautiful northern bay town and dinner at Paradise Bay. If you get to go to Paradise Bay, might I recommend the Lobster, Shrimp and Shitake potstickers. You will not be disappointed. Another trip over the Golden Gate Bridge, and then a view of the sunset over the Pacific from Baker Beach… here, take a look:

Well, a drive back home and that was basically the weekend. Mom and Dad went down to Monterrey and Carmel the following day, while I went to work and got the word that my current job of traveling will be coming to an end in September. Yes, this trip is going to take a different turn in the very near future… so it should be interesting, and possibly a bit more stationary. I’ll keep you posted.

The weekend was great, and Mom and Dad were off on Thursday back to the East Coast. It’s rare once you’ve become “all grown up” to be able to take some vacation with Mom and Dad, but this was a great rare opportunity that we made the most of.

2008-07-20T16:44:00.002-04:00

"Do you need the Heimlich?” Now, I know what happens when you’re at a dinner table and someone asks the slightly distressed person next to her this very question. Now, if you’re in need of the medical practice made famous by Dr. Henry Jay Heimlich, then I would suggest that you do it outside, as my fellow dinner table neighbors did during the rehearsal dinner the night before Lauren Mehl and Ryan Tetuan tied the knot in Erie, PA. I say this, because it’s a semi-formal occasion, people are in good spirits, and you won’t want to ruin the dinner by being so pretentious that you would make a scene due to the inability of your body to get oxygen. And with that, I commend Ms. Abby Gerhlein on her finesse in being able to choke, nod to the Heimlich query, step outside with said nurse sitting next to her, receive said Heimlich, and return to finish her meal. Bravo, my dear.

Moving to a related topic… on June 28, 2008, and the Go There Try That blog was there to witness the congregation of marriage between Lauren and Ryan, and the good times were guaranteed. Going to weddings this summer is clearly a theme. There are more of them to come, and they include such exotic locations as Utah and Massachusetts. Now, there is always the praying, and the rings, and the vows, and the kiss… but it’s the little things between the flights that bookend these weekends that make the journey worthwhile. As note above, my first witness of an actual choking is a perfect example. As this seems now to be ancient history (almost a month has passed), I won’t go into much detail on the entire weekend… but it was a good return to Erie, PA, as I hadn’t been there in quite a few months. I had the chance to catch up with the E-Town crew on the bay at Rum Runners, with the cast and crew featuring such well-known characters as Jake & Terri, Peter J, The McBrides, The McFergusons, Mr. Jerry Davis, and a long missing yet not forgotten face, that of Miss Macko. Good times were had, and that followed with another great wedding in the massive St. Peter’s Cathedral, and a very nice reception at the Kahkwa Country Club (Pork Wellington was the main course… yum Christianity and its useful use of the pig). Well… that weekend ended with another tasty Sunday dinner at Poppa Kaps place on the West Side and then I was back in San Francisco in no time… oh wait, only after my flight was cancelled, and I was forced to take a three stop tour through Detroit, Las Vegas, and then to SF at 1:30am. Ah the joys of air travel.

Now, it was a quick week before The Jill made a trip to the West Coast for a pre-birthday-weekend fourth of July weekend (PBWFJW)! Well, since The Jill and I have been together for some time now, and the bay area in the summer is not a location to just “take for granted,” I set out to make sure we had plenty of activities to keep us busy. I think it started when I picked up Jill in the convertible yellow Corvette. Even if the entire weekend was a bust, at least we’d ride in some ridiculous style right? Riiiight.

La Bodeguita del Medio is a Cuban restaurant in Palo Alto, California that should be visited by anyone with taste buds. If you’ve lost your taste buds in a horrible accident, I am sorry, but I guess you can come for the smell. All the meals are fantastic there, but it really is all about the shrimp ceviche. Holly and Bryce joined the Jill and me for dinner, and good times were had. I’ve now been to La Bodeguita four times, and plan to get back there a few more times before the end of the summer.

Then, it was the fourth of July… and what do you do on the fourth of July? You go and play some tennis. Nearby is a great outdoor tennis facility, and so The Jill and I took advantage of it. Then, The Jill took advantage of the fact that she’s good, I am not, and beat me 6-3, 6-0. Whatever. Then, what else do you do on the fourth of July? You go to a baseball game! It’s an American past time on America’s birthday with a bunch of Americans watching it. Americrazy. Below, you can see the video of AT&T park, which is by far one of the best parks I’ve ever been in. It’s a must if you’re visiting the San Francisco area and have some time to catch a game. We left our seats in the fourth inning and never came back! The Dodgers, with former Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra and pitcher Derek Lowe, ended up beating the Giants… but it was the big flat screen TV area that we were interested in as the Red Sox ended up beating the Yankees that day.

After the game, we walked through the city up towards the Marina area of Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf. Along the way, we stopped at The Saloon and caught a blues band in the afternoon. It was great, but the Sam Adam’s that I ordered was over a year expired!? That’s not good for business. We moved on to Sodini’s around the corner and sat at the bar for some wine and good conversation. We were told by the other couples at the bar that the fireworks, which were going to happen that evening, would only go off into the fog and that there would be virtually no viewing experience except colored clouds. This… well… turned out to be true. After some Indian food on the way down Columbus Ave. towards Fisherman’s Wharf, Jill and I showed up in time for the fireworks to go off into the fog. Beautiful fog, really… pink and blue and all that. The finally was the one time when you could really see the fireworks emerging from the clouds, and a 21 minute show over San Francisco bay, whether in the fog or not, makes you remember that this country really really likes itself. Go USA.

What’s the best thing to do on the fifth of July? Well, I’d say it’s to go up to Sonoma, and participate in a cooking class at the Ramekins cooking school in Sonoma, CA. It was the class of the “Big Green Egg,” a specialized grill and smoker that provided a great centralized theme for the class. Jill and I were in charge of the panini’s with our newest pal Kevin. We cut up bread, used Gruyere cheese, wilted spinach, prosciutto, and made a phenomenal romesco sauce that really made the sandwiches. The rest of the class had broken up into other teams to cover the pork loin, au gratin potatoes, smoked salmon, and the chocolate soufflé desserts. Needless to say, it was an excellent time, and I’m very glad we were able to get up there and do something beyond the wine tasting. After the class, we did head up into Napa however to make sure we got in a bit of wine tasting. Mondavi was closed due to the summer concert series that night, so we pulled off at Turnbull and had some ‘okay’ wines… but we were very dehydrated from such a warm day and were simply not into the red wines that are so popular in Napa.

After that bit of wine, we said au revoir to Napa and hello to the troubling and annoying roads of the Mt. Tamalpais region on our way to Muir Woods. If there is one thing about me that continues to get me fired up these days, it’s getting lost… I really dislike it. And, if you’ve been working all day in the heat, drinking some wine, and now are lost in the woods… well… you can get a little worked up. Luckily, we found Muir Woods, and were able to go for a short hike to work off a bit of the frustration. In fact, it was very nice to get up there and see the view down to the ocean… that by the way is really huge. You might think “Well, I’ve seen the Atlantic Ocean… how is that different, it’s an ocean for as far as you can see.” Well… you’re right, but the Pacific looks bigger… I can’t explain it… it just does. After the hike, we drove over the golden gate bridge and headed into Pier 39. Where do you eat in downtown San Francisco with nasty dusty feet, sweaty bodies from a long day in the heat? The only place where you can actually get more dirty… the Crab House. Jill and I opted for the 4 person Crab Feast, of which we were nearly able to finish the entire meal, save for a couple of claws. It was good work, and even the people surrounding us and those walking by were astounded that we’d attempt such a feat. A long drive back to Fremont, dangerously teetering on the sleepiness in a packed highway, and we were out for the night after a great day north of the bay.

After a packed couple of days, the best thing to do is to have a lazy Sunday. We basically stayed holed up in the apartment for the day, and watched one of the most phenomenal tennis matches in history as five time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer ended up losing his attempt at number six to the very talented world #2 Raphael Nadal. So, in all, it was a great long weekend, and a very worthwhile way to experience the bay area.

2008-06-25T20:32:00.003-04:00

The following is a Guest Blog from Andy Macaulay in response to the question, “Dude, how the F is Israel?”

Whazzup?!
Israel is amazing dude. I've been working some seriously long days (12-13 hours), so I've had limited time to check out the city. It's hotter than a motherfucker here. 95 and sunny every day.... it never rains; they've told me here it won't rain until October. Crazy right! And yes, the women here are absolutely gorgeous.... there’s got to be something in the little amount of water that they've got, because I've never seen so many smoking hot ladies in one place. It's awesome. We are staying right on the beach in Tel Aviv, and oh yeah, Tel Aviv is a huge ass city, way bigger than I imagined. The businesses are open all night long, including the bars, you can walk around anywhere with a beer. The beer and food here is pretty good, a lot of Goldstar and hummus... but I'm enjoying it.

Last Friday I got to go out to Jerusalem, what a place! Rode a camel, said a prayer, got completely lost in the old city, and peaced out. It was a great time. Then we went around Tel Aviv with some friends from work over here... it was fun, 5am came way too quick that night, and we spent what was left of Saturday walking around Tel Aviv checking out the all the sights. I'm really hoping to go down to the Dead Sea this weekend. It's a little bit of a ride but everyone I've talked to says it's well worth it, it's the lowest point below sea level on earth I believe. I will spend all weekend checking out more of the country because they've asked me to stay another week so I won't be heading home until July 3... it's cool though, I really like it here. The team I am working with is great, and surprisingly enough, everybody speaks English here, which is pretty helpful.

Man, I don't know how you do it, traveling all the time, flying just ain’t my cup of tea, dawg... it took us 32 hours to get from Boston to here and I'm not looking forward to the trip home. If everything goes as planned, which I've realized doesn't always happen when you have connecting flights, but if things do work out then I should be back to Boston around 8pm on July 3rd. And I am pretty sure I've got Friday and Monday off, so that should be a nice long weekend. Are you going to be around at all that weekend? A friend here at work invited us all over on Thursday for scotch and cigars, and to watch the Uefa Euro 2008 semi-finals... you came to mind when he mentioned it. Oh yeah, pretty sweet about the Celtics huh... I missed the winning game because I was already over here, but I did catch most of the games before I left… that’s fuck'n sweet. So, I've got get back to work... keep in touch though man... hope everything's good on your end... and be sure to tell Jill I said hi.

Later,
Andy

2008-06-23T02:29:00.007-04:00

Happy Second Birthday, Blog!

The Go There, Try That blog is now two years, count ‘em, two years old. It’s been one hell of an interesting run for sure. It all started back in Lyon, France on June 23, 2006. Since then, I have traveled over 100,000 miles, lived in eight different countries on four different continents, bought a home, released an album, started an investment group, got a promotion, watched the Red Sox and Celtics win championships, and posted 85 blog entries about anything and everything. Depending on your perspective, some folks might say that two years is very short amount of time… but when I reflect on the stories here and all undocumented moments in between, I’d like to think I’m making the most of it. So… here’s to two great years, and then here’s to many more. Thanks for reading, it’s been a pleasure writing.

-Ray

2008-06-13T12:34:00.007-04:00

Saturday was a good day for a sail on San Francisco bay… so we took advantage of it. The team and I headed up to the north end of the bay to Sausalito, and arrived at Club Nautique sailing charters. We checked in and “received the keys” to the Vixen… a 26 foot Colgate. Luckily, our team included Alex, an experienced sail instructor before joining the world of the 9 to 5, and therefore we were able to head out on our own.

We motored out of the Richardson Bay in towards the big bay. Alex was giving us the run down on sailing when all of a sudden, the boat slammed basically to a stop, throwing everyone forward. “What the hell was that?!” We looked around, and saw that we had come out of the channel (by quite a ways) and it was low tide… which, answered the question quite easily… “That, friends, was what they call ‘the bottom.’” We motored slowly and cautiously back to the channel, and decided to stay between the markers going forward.

The wind then picked up, we pulled up the sails, and aimed ourselves directly towards San Francisco as we set a course to tack towards the Golden Gate Bridge. (Yes, at this point in the story, I also realized what I was doing, and yes, I felt like I was in the story of someone else’s life… but it was me… which made it awesome). The difficulty with sailing towards the Golden Gate Bridge when the tide starts to come in, is that San Francisco bay is about 1,600 square miles (counting San Pablo Bay and the estuaries), and the only opening for the tide to fill this incredibly expansive area is through the Golden Gate. This causes tidal currents to push into the 4-5 knot range, and sometimes even higher. In other words, it’s really freakin’ hard to sail to the Golden Gate Bridge during max “flood” (which is sailor speak for the tide coming in).

So… after a couple of tacks, we decided to head straight towards downtown. Now, while sailing in on a gorgeous day in San Francisco bay at about 2pm with the tide coming in, you’ve got the on shore breeze coming in at 10-15mph through the Golden Gate… well, then you can move a boat with some serious speed being underway on a broad reach. Yes, friends, I paid attention to Alex’s sailing terms and also have the benefit of Google on my side for these things, but there’s nothing white people like more than using obscure sailing terms (well… except for all of these things). And thus, we came up on the San Francisco bayfront area and Pier 39. It was awesome because that was about a 5-mile trip across the bay and the city just continually grew until we were right up on it and man… well, just check out the pictures… it was awesome.

So, once we decided we were close enough to the city, it was time to turn back. The only logical thing to do is sail around Alcatraz, right? Right. So we did. To see Alcatraz in person from the water was a great experience, and made me wonder how great it would have been to have that 1 hour of outdoor time to look out over the bay on a summer day… ahhh, incarceration paradise. Here (L to R), Jan, Caroline, and Holly enjoy the lighter wind and calmer waters on the backside of Alcatraz (which you can see behind them). We closed out by sailing around the west side of Angel Island, dipping a bit into a windless Raccoon Straight and Belvedere Cove, and then back to the marina. The total trip was about four hours in total, while we covered about 12+ miles, and so we were moving quite quickly the whole time. We grabbed some excellent Fish and Chips at the Paradise Bay restaurant, and then went home to pass out. An amazing experience that I’m sure I’ll talk about for many years.

2008-05-25T14:37:00.008-04:00

Guess who just got married!? That’s right! My little sister Kristen da Bisten married Mr. Keith Menslage on May 23, 2008 at the Andover Country Club in Andover, Massachusetts. Wow is right. Thursday night was a rehearsal at the country club and then a big family style Italian dinner at The Chateau Restaurant in Andover. Keith provided us (the groomsmen) with large, basically non-concealable flasks, and a highly useful beer mug that is already in my freezer yearning for it’s first Sam Adams. After dinner, we returned to the club for a night of boozing and poker, which with Keith’s closest friends is standard fare. The next morning, we headed out to the Hickory Hills golf course (no, we weren’t about to play at Andover… because, well, we probably wouldn’t be allowed). The two-team-best-ball-tournament was a good show in hacking, duffing, and topping golf balls. I managed to have a couple of good shots, which made my day. Note to self: Play more golf this year.

The afternoon brought us back to the club to get some food, get some showers, and get ready for the 6pm ceremony. It was great weather all day, until the rain came at around 5pm. Ah, the joys of outdoor weddings. The showers however, were as they say “scattered.” So, we put a rain delay on the ceremony until 6:15 when it gave us a window of somewhat overcast dryness, ran out, dried the chairs, Keith rallied the troops to get everyone out there, we all (~120 folks) sat down, the revered Tom was pretty quick with his words, a reading, and vow, another one, a kiss, clapping, and wouldn’t ya know it, I’ve got a new brother… oh, yes, and Kristen is married. Woohoo! It was actually quite nice, and I’m glad we were able to pull it off outside.

The evening brought on a good dinner and plenty of ridiculous dancing. Nothing like a good wedding party, that actually ends up going to a pretty significant after party. After multiple days in Miami, and the night’s activities before, I did not make an appearance at the after party. It was a great time overall, and a great celebration with great friends. Congratulations Kristen and Keith!

So, what do you do the day after your sister’s wedding? a) Save the earth, b) Go to a free concert, c) Bar crawl from downtown to your home, d) All of the above. If you guessed A, you were right… but D was a better choice. The Jill and I went to the EarthFest concert at the Hatch Shell on the River Charles on Saturday afternoon. Conveniently, we walked from our place in Cambridge across the river to the concert grounds, and met up with Mark, Jill, Neal, and Peg to watch the concert. As you can imagine, EarthFest would involve a number of the more “organic” folks of the planet using the event to spread a message about conservation, recycling, greenhouse gas emissions, and other activities that you should or should not due in the name of the planet Earth. When we first arrived, I was handed a pamphlet on “How Farming Animals Impacts the Environment: Consuming the Planet Bite by Bite.” Did you know that global meat consumption has risen 500% since the 1950’s? Did you know that one vegan saves 1.6 tons of greenhouse gases per year (see picture title “Irony” at left). Did you know that the USDA calculates that it takes 11 calories of fossil fuel to produce 1 calorie of meat, poultry, or fish protein, while soy is 45 times more energy efficient? Did you know it only takes one bite to realize why you’re paying more for that filet… yummmm. No seriously though, I do believe in conservation, and all those good things, but believe that our agricultural habits will change with the needs and challenges that civilization will face in the future… we are creative beings… heck, we invented the Wii. But please recycle the Wii when you’re done with it.

We arrived at the concert while The English Beat was playing. I had heard of The English Beat, but hadn’t heard their music from what I recall. They were the perfect sunny afternoon free concert band, as they mixed together ska, reggae and pop for a great summertime sound. That was followed by Cracker, a great band that I like quite a lot back in the day with their 1993 release of “Kerosene Hat” that my dad listened to a lot. Hits you might recognize off of that album include “Low,” and “Euro Trash Girl,” both of which were featured in their ‘short set in the shell’ (say that five times fast). In fact, Jill (not my Jill) commented that it was my dad that originally introduced her to Cracker back in the 90’s… nice work, Dad. The crowd at that time somehow got rowdy when a huge group of “zombies” showed up for some sort of protest or just general nuisance. They marched towards the front, while carrying one sign that said “Zombies for Nixon,” and another that said “We’re here, we’re dead, get used to it.” One shouted out the protestor call and response:

“What do we want!?”
“Brains!”
“When do we want them?!”
“Brains!”

That was good for a chuckle, but then the brigade of police that showed up and hauled a few of them off was not only insane (probably 30 to 40 Boston Police on the scene), but gave that hint of Kent State to the scene that every soy-based world-saving peaceful gathering needs to give it some ‘us vs. them’ credibility. Once that scene calmed down a bit, it was time for the days headliner, Cake. They sounded great, with lead singer John McCrea providing some much needed comical relief to the somewhat tense crowd, going so far as to thank the “skilled sailors for sailing so close to us” on the River Charles. A highlight for me was their cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” which got the crowd surfing and mosh pitting really going… nice work guys.

We topped off the day with a beer and a bite at The Hill Tavern in Beacon Hill, said goodbye to our cuatro compadres de tardes, and headed towards home across the Longfellow Bridge (well, we cheated, we hopped the Red Line from Charles/MGH to Kendall), and stopped into the Cambridge Brewing Company for a drink and to watch the Celtics win over Detroit (Go C’s). We headed up Cardinal Medeiros, and stopped into the newest restaurant in the Wellington-Harrington area of Cambridge called “Hungry Mother.” Bartender Duane handed us the ‘late-night’ menu, a tasty nightcap beer (Ruination IPA from Stone Brewery in San Diego, CA), and The Jill a glass of the Domaine Clos de Rochers Pinot Gris (bit too sweet). The chocolate cake was a great ending to a great day, and with Hungry Mother being only 200 yards from our front door, we’ll be back.

2008-05-24T12:44:00.009-04:00

Quick music reviews! It’s the start of summer, and we all know what that means? You put away your winter music (i.e. Spoon, Menomena, Burial, LCD Soundsystem) with your sweaters, and you go to the store and pick up some new threads / tunes. Well, what have I been listening too lately? Everything, and then some. Due to the fact that I was driving between Schenectady and Boston for the last three months, the iPod hooked into the rental Avalon meant that I could grab any album, and get into it over a couple of hours with it cranked. And now, my thoughts on:

Cut Copy – “In Ghost Colours”: With an opening track called “Feel The Love,” which in the first note gives you the realization that this is going to be a lighthearted party of an album, it will depend on your frame of mind at the time as to whether you instantly love or hate these guys. I gave it a listen on one of the first warm Friday evenings in early May while driving out of work with the windows down, and yes, I loved it; in the morning on a rainy day, not so much. I would call this album a must have if you are an entertainer for Summer 2008 parties, A-Wrod, Vinnie Bags, K&K, Timmy-Z… I’m looking at you. It’s basically the best synth sounds and vocal stylings from the 80’s, mixed with the best house and techno beats of today. The result is some great tracks, such as “Lights & Music,” “Hearts on Fire,” and “Strangers In the Wind.” Take a listen, get into that “time to party” moment of the week, and crank this one up.

Death Cab For Cutie – “Narrow Stairs”: Once again, Benjamin Gibbard serves up a dish of storytelling lyrics and light vocals that we’ve come to expect from DCFC’s last work, Plans and Gibbard’s side project, The Postal Service. From the start with “Bixby Canyon Bridge,” you instantly follow Gibbard into a story about someone who has “long ago disappeared,” and then the band fuses into the story with what are most notably solid bass lines through the album, but overall great accompaniment to a lyrical genius. Yeah, I said that. The first single, “I Will Possess Your Heart,” is very catchy, which may grow old like the first singles often do, but is a great listen in your first few times through. Songs like “Talking Bird” show Gibbard’s creativity on simple subjects, storytelling, and by the end, seamlessly delivering metaphors. “Grapevine Fires” sticks out as an extremely visual storyline, and the album ends with another lyrically mastered ballad to better times in a relationship with “The Ice Is Getting Thinner.” Yes, this album is worth your time.

Nine Inch Nails – “The Slip”: Well, how about this for a hook? It’s free. Yes, you can download the newest compilation from the industrial rock producer of the last two decades, Trent Reznor, at the Nine Inch Nails website. The album, coming out about 20 years after the release of Pretty Hate Machine, is similar to more recent releases by NIN (“Year Zero,” “Ghosts I-IV”), in that it has the driving distorted guitar, but fully gains its credibility from the creation of ‘severe’ electronic beats. The album is a total of 45 minutes long, and the first five songs are crazy heavy, almost to the point of unorganized. The last five are what I like most about Trent, with creepy melodies melding with the guitar, drum, and bass that drive the power of the songs. The lyrics overall are a bit more self-doubting and longing, which in the maturity of a guy who used to rather die than give someone else control, well, it’s just an interesting thing to see. Who knows how we’ll all change between our 20’s and our 40’s. If you’re not a NIN fan, then you can probably skip this one.

Old 97’s – “Blame it on Gravity”: It’s been a while since the Old 97’s came out with an album (I think), as I am a bit of a ‘sidelines’ fan, who notices when someone mentions them, but generally won’t keep tabs on their latest news or write blog posts about them… wait a second. If you listened to the album “Drag It Up,” and liked what you heard, then you get exactly what you expect from the Old 97’s on this newest release; a country twang, story telling lyrics, quick rock beats, and a couple great ballads. Honestly, if you’re looking for something different to fill in the awkwardness of choosing the right music for a summer barbecue mixed with grandparents, parents, friends, and friends' kids well, this might be what you need. Also, it fills in nicely as a bridge between country fans and rock fans… without giving in fully to country, and keeping itself in the rock genre. Give it a go.

Vampire Weekend – “Vampire Weekend”: If you haven’t heard of these guys yet, then you may be under a rock… in a cave... on Mars... with your eyes closed. Yes, these guys have brought forward a simple sounding clean guitar, a master on the keys, a bassist and drummer who know when to step up or shut up, and lyrics that reminisce of the end of the spring semester at college. This is one of those albums that you can listen to 10 times in a row and still not feel tired of it, which I literally have done. After about 20 listens though, it’s time to take a listen to a few of the albums mentioned above. I could go more in depth on these guys, but simply put, the GTTT blog lists this album as a “Must Have” for the Summer of 2008. Go out, get it, turn it up, impress your friends, and enjoy the summer.

That is all... enjoy the sounds of the season!

2008-05-18T11:17:00.004-04:00

Bienvenido a Miami. I’m currently on a flight from Boston to Miami (via Charlotte), and good times shall be had in everyone’s favorite Spanish speaking city in the US. It should be good times, as I now am transition from being in Schenectady, NY since February, to being in San Francico until the end of August. Good times are ahead, for sure. Stay tuned. For now though, it’s time to take note of a couple of the good times at home. Like what?

Well, I fixed my toilet. Yep. Exciting? No. Awkwardly proud of it? Yes. When The Jill and I moved into the condo in Cambridge, one thing could be said about the bathroom. It was small. The second thing you might say is, “Why the hell is this toilet so loud?” Well, I can confidently tell you now that it is due to the refill valve in the tank. The toilet kept running, and upon inspection through about a thousand test flushes, I decided that bending that long arm thing with the ball at the end would fix it. All that did was not allow the flap at the bottom to close. Since the contraption appeared to be original to the 1909 structure, I figured it was time to replace it. Destination: Home Depot, toilets and toilet accessories aisle. Fact: Home Depot is awesome. For less than $10, I got a new refill valve, headed home, tore my toilet apart, put it back together with the upgrades, and what have you got? 80 decibel sound reduction, ¼ gallon water use reduction, 3 additional ‘ego-points.’ Ray’s Plumbing Service, “You can’t afford us.”

Location, location, location, right? Right. One of the major attractions to purchasing the condo was the fact that it looked as though downtown Boston was basically within walking distance. Now that the winter has passed, The Jill and I gave it a try on a spring Sunday afternoon. In 30 minutes, we were at the Union Oyster House in Haymarket, slurping everyone’s favorite bivalves, and talking with the schuckers. We sat at the semi-circular bar in the old portion of “America’s oldest restaurant,” enjoyed some Sam Adam’s Boston Ale (proof that lightening can strike twice if Jim Koch has anything to do with it), and between the two of us, had 40 oysters. Add it all up, and I call it $90 well spent. Wait, $90?!?! Yeah, the tab adds up quick there, so despite being in walking distance, I don’t think we’ll become regulars any time soon.

Docta Ben, Docta Ben!? So, a friend of mine from back in the high school days just graduated with as a Doctor in Pharmacy. No, I can’t get you any free pills, but I can suggest a good pharmacist named Ben. His family was throwing him a congratulatory lunch at the Kowloon restaurant on Route 1 in Saugus, MA. Wait, Kowloon? Chinese food? Well, yes, but let me explain. The Kowloon restaurant sits 500+ people in multiple different rooms, and is a banquet based Szechuan, Cantonese, Thai, ‘pick an Asian country’ cuisine mecca. So, The Jill and I joined up with my mom to join Ben’s family and have good times. Good times it was, but after growing restless post-lunch, we did next what was the only logical thing to do. Play mini-golf. The Route 1 Mini-Golf in Saugus is famous for the Orange Dinosaur that stands next to the road, but beyond that, it basically sucks. It was interesting to learn that The Jill is pretty bad a mini-golf, but even more interesting that Ben’s cousin Jeff was able to get the worst score with at 68… on a par 42. Hey, it’s like playing twice for the price of one, right? Yeah.

So, what else is up? Well, Kristen is getting married. Yes, my sister will be marrying Keith on Friday May 23rd. Stay tuned for more on that front. Overall though, things are going well, and the forecast for the summer is 80º, mostly sunny, with the chance of good times ~100%.

2008-05-13T16:03:00.005-04:00

Goodbye, Nana. I will miss you. My grandmother passed away in the early morning of May 7, 2008, and she was 89 years old. All people love their grandmother, it’s a natural human trait, but few grandmothers are loved by so many people. Thelma Lillian Berglund Carr was a woman of an extraordinary persona; able to make a real connection with everyone she met.

She was unable to make it to the day of my sister’s wedding. But throughout the last few months in the hospital, she spoke excitedly of the planning that had to occur and wanted to know the progress. It was a common occurrence to discuss with ‘Nana’ the planning or the journey to get to a destination. I, along with many others can remember sitting in her living room looking out a Lake Winnisquam from the couch and listening to a detailed story of a car ride to Niagara Falls or a plane ride to Holland. And as the stories all seem to fade into a hazy single moment of my own memory, where it is perpetually a late afternoon at Nana’s home, I like to remember the details that make the time between destinations so much a part of my life.

Speaking of details, names and faces are not just a way to show respect, but a way to remember life. I started this blog back in Lyon, France in 2006 when I realize that life was moving fast, and the stories were fading faster. The inspiration however, which made me realize the importance of the stories, was none other than my grandmother. Even my cousin Jen went so far as to dedicate her master’s thesis on spoken history to the woman who was a living model of the subject. Her stories often contained not only the names and ages of people, but side stories about their children, where those children currently lived, and some update about what they were doing with their lives. It takes a real effort to remember such detail, and it’s a good lesson for all of us, in that remembering the names of those people who come into your life can also provide as waypoints in a long series of stories.

So, now it’s a Thursday as I write this part of the post, and much of my family is working today. The services were setup for a Friday wake and a Saturday funeral service. One might ask, “How can you really go to work now?” The response from my grandmother would most certainly be, “Well… there’s no use just sitting around.” Which leads to another lesson, and that of work and service. What did this woman of 89 years do with her life? How did she make herself known and appreciated by so many? Well, here’s an idea:

Registered nurse for over 40 years

School nurse in the school system of Arlington, MA

Visiting nurse for the VNAA of Arlington, MA

Private-duty nurse in hospitals and residences in the Arlington area.

Volunteer Red Cross nurse for more than 35 years

President of the Arlington Women's Republican Club

Headed the town wide United Fund of Arlington

Chairperson for the Women's Group of Arlington First Baptist Church

Active in the PTA, Cub Scouts, and even the Women's Bowling Club… yeah, bowling.

Member of the Laconia Women's Club

Member of the N.H. Cooperative Extension

Member of the Red Cross Blood Bank

Extremely active in the ABC quilt program (sending handmade quilts throughout the world)

Member of the Second Baptist Church of Sanbornton

Chairperson of the White Cross (a worldwide mission aiding missionaries around the globe)

Member of the Women's Mission Society

Nurse for Camp Sentinel

New Hampshire Volunteer of the Year in 2000

Service for those who are in need and service for those who are less fortunate was what she was all about. What she never boasted about she was working on, and she never looked to gain any recognition for her work, but it was serving for the love of service that made her so integral to so many organizations. She was a lifeline to many senior citizens in the area, whom she visited on a regular basis to share stories and time with. Many of those folks were much younger than her, and it goes to show, that if you keep yourself active and keep yourself needed, you can keep yourself around for a long time.

There are thousands of stories about her that people have been telling throughout the last few days. We all were fortunate enough to visit her many times in the last few months, and fortunate enough to know her for many years. Her mind always stayed sharp, her stories were never dull, and her perspective was always objective yet witty… a model for all to follow in our busy lives. She was laid to rest at Bayside Cemetery, next to the original Raymond Berglund, on a beautiful Saturday in May. God bless her.

2008-05-01T10:51:00.001-04:00

Guess who’s getting married!?! That’s right folks, you guessed it, Mr. Chused himself will be getting married in September of 2008, and what better way to give him a proper bachelor party than to head out to the lights of Vegas. Oh yes, that’s right, 13 guys, 3 nights, one weekend only, The Greatest Show In Vegas. Well… at least we think so. I flew out of Albany airport on a Thursday afternoon, first class upgrade through Detroit was clearly necessary, and so were a couple of Mr. Daniels n’ Diets. I landed about 9:30pm, met my driver at the baggage claim and it was off to The Venetian. (The Venetian is one of those ridiculous middle of the strip hotels that cost $1.4 billion to create… however I am willing to be they could save some money if they had made the place slightly easier to navigate.) It was first off to the shady, but cheap casino of the Imperial Palace to meet up with the guys that had already arrived. First, I started Vegas off right… $100 lost at Black Jack with the speed one has come to expect. Next, I found an even better game to lose $100… Roulette. Now… here’s where I’m not going to continue explaining every step of the way during Vegas, because I am still afraid that I will realize how much this ‘theme’ of losing actually netted me, and well… I’m just not interested in publishing that kind of info. It was this first night that made me realize there is no “off” button for Vegas, as this was my first venture to the desert. I think after making our way through Caesar’s Palace, and the V Bar in the Venetian, it caught up with me that I needed some sleep.

Boom, it’s the next morning… open the shade… blind. Completely blind. Like a swat team throwing a flashbang into the room, you realize just how bright the Vegas sun is on the first morning. Next stop, was basically what you could call ‘Home Base’ for the crew. Most people call it The Grand Lux Café. You may or may not imagine, I was thirsty, and the great thing about The Grand Lux Café, besides the fact that it never closes, the line moves extremely quickly, and the prices are not too insane, is that you can order nearly everything and anything. So, that’s what I did. Breakfast beverage of choice? Why choose one: Two Bloody Mary’s, water, coffee, cup of whole milk, a mimosa, and a Sam Adams. Yum. Meal choice? Steak and eggs… wait, scratch that… N.Y. Strip and eggs benedict. Oh, throw a fruit platter on there for good luck. This sounded like a good idea at the time, but it made a round of golf at the Ranch Rhodes Golf Club a bit difficult on the front nine. Ah yes, golf, the sport of kings… or is that horse racing… well, the sport of dudes in funny hats… named Ray. We played a best ball tournament, and after 18 holes… we tied. One over par, tied it up… push. Which, is the best gambling I did all weekend, by not losing $100.

Charlie Palmer’s Steakhouse in the Four Seasons (part of Mandalay Bay) was, well, “the big meal.” Once my filet had come, and I saw the ‘surf’ that accompanied other folks’ turf, I quickly added that to my order. A bottle of some Rioja, a bottle of some Syrah, a Bacardi Limon with Lemon & Lime for the bachelor, a martini, two martinis, three martinis for Campasano, etc. Slowly the night, or more likely my memory, begins to fade at this point and you realize that it’s not so much that “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” but more “what happened in Vegas? I forget, dude.”

Either way, the next day was pool day, right? Well, the pool at the Venetian has a few great features: Tao Beach, a central bar, and pomegranate juice. Let’s start with Tao Beach, which is some sort of outdoor, daytime club that is somewhat reminiscent of one of the Greek island beaches that thumps music and serves drinks and gyros all day… sans gyros. It’s filled with those somewhat over the top club going prepsters, and is most useful for people watching more than anything. Seriously, who dances in a pool? Still, it’s a novel idea, and makes the location unique. Now, let’s get to what really matters, the center bar. Around 11am, Cinelli, the bachelor, and I walked up to the bar, had a shot of tequila and started the downhill climb from there. Eventually, the majority of the crew had found some lounge chairs nearby, while a few of us remained at the bar… enter pomegranate. The drinks were good, yes, but when it came time to do shots, the pomegranate juice on the bar was requested to be added to everything. Vodka Pom? Yes. Soco & Lime… & Pom? Yes. Oh my. How great of day at the pool bar was it? Well… eventually I began signing all of the bar receipts with a picture of a whale. That great.

All those good times led to a bit of a recovery evening, where some tasty Chinese food at Jade, “free” drinks at the table games, and donating hundreds of dollars to The Venetian’s Children’s Fund (it’s easier on your mind if you think it’s all for charity), were basically all that could be done. This was the evening that verified what everyone who had been to Vegas before me had said. “Dude, 3 days there feels like 2 weeks.” And there it was… that two-week feeling as the craps table rocked my world one more time. Don’t get me wrong, it was good times for sure, but it was really the next day that blew the two-week feeling away. Around 11am, when most people were heading out from the hotel, we headed to the freshly opening blackjack tables. The Sunday morning casino scene, well, it’s a lonely place. But hey, I’ll do whatever it takes to help the Children’s Fund is taken care of. After taking advantage of the Canyon Ranch Spa, stopping by the pool bar one more time only to get the verification that I was the ‘greatest show in Vegas’ the day prior, and packing up the bags… we were off to the McCarran Airport. First class for a red eye flight through Cleveland before landing in Albany on Monday morning… well, that’s a bad idea. Well, no, the flight wasn’t the bad idea, but going to work all day on Monday was. And so ends another check mark on the ‘life list.’ Vegas, baby.

2008-04-10T15:52:00.003-04:00

Have you ever driven Route 90, from Massachusetts into New York, and crossed the bridge over the Hudson River? I have made this trip about 10 or 12 times in the last 3 months, and I must say that it is one of the more impressive views I've witnessed. It is one of the few places I can think of where you are so elevated in such an expanse of land. One must make this trip, and complete it as I do at 6am in the dead of winter for a little added affect of emptiness... and you'll see the Earth curve. Go check it out.

On another note, I bought a new camera... as the Sony is now broken, and has caused quite a decrease in the postings on Go There, Try That. No worries though... I think the new Canon SD750 will treat me well... especially in Vegas... wait, what? Stay tuned...

2008-03-31T11:45:00.009-04:00

A recent intercepted correspondence between Easta Green Music execs:

Record Man,

I mean... I like R.E.M., you know? Song writing is interesting, good little melodies, all that stuff that makes some good 'adult alternative popular music' is what is to love about these guys... but when you look at the chart, which is in the Wall Street Journal today... you see just how far they've fallen. I mean... damn. I honestly think the downfall started when 4.5 million people bought the album "Out of Time"... and realized that track 6 was "Shiny Happy People." Basically, the moral of the story is:

Never collaborate with the B-52's (we may want to consider the dangers of a DKaHA collaborations, those guys suck)
If you're going to make a song about poor chinese translations, make them funnier, like "Salty Cat & Monkey Fizz, keep me alive, keep me in the biz"
Don't be R.E.M.

That is all for music news, and now, here's the weather:
It sucks.

Peace,
Accounting guy

2008-03-28T16:33:00.004-04:00

The Raconteurs released the album, "Consolers of the Lonely" on Tuesday March 25, 2008. Caloia asked, "How you feeling about the album?":

Feeling pretty good... they make good music quite simply. A lot of it isn't 'my face just melted off'... but it's got great rhythm shifts, melodies are great, and again Jack and Brendan share the vocal duties quite well. The title track is a great example of that… contrasting quickly but all a cohesive piece. Then "You Don't Understand Me" is just the kind of broken heart sort of slap in the face you come to expect from Jack… when it comes to writing the blues, it's just impressive. "You look pretty in your fancy dress…" you know, that sort of thing with Brendan singing… he's really got a heck of a tone to his voice on the Old Enough song. "The Switch & Spur" was what was expected with more of a country feel, but is basically on of the only songs that really holds that mold here. Hold Up… love the energy, and I bet the song would be great to see in concert. My favorite, or co-favorite track really is "Top Yourself"… I have a hard time not loving Jack White on slide guitar. The next few songs haven't really grabbed me yet, but then again, I haven't taken a long car ride with them just yet. So, I'm sure there is more to explore. And then finally, that "Carolina Drama" song… with that thing cranked up… wow man… great story. "Just then his little brother walked in holding a milk man's hat and a bottle of gin singin' lalala lalala…" I mean seriously… tell me a story Jack.

2008-03-20T14:13:00.006-04:00

Guest Blogs from The Homestead!...and now... The Jill's Guest Blog from The Homestead:

I am happy to say, “Good bye Winter, hellooooo Spring”. It’s official as of 5:43am today! As such, I wore my new, fancy galoshes and I’m starting my pretend diet in anticipation of summer. I say pretend because I’m easily lured by candy, carbs, and beer.

I hope you all had a fun St. Patty’s Day. It was my first in Boston, so I’ve attached a few classic pictures from the Parade that we went to this past Sunday in Southie. In case you don’t know, Southie is the part of Boston where most of the Irish Catholics live... it’s not to be confused with the South End, which is where the... um... artsy and flamboyant people live. Both locations are interesting places to visit. Anyway, the parade consisted mostly of Irish politicians and marching bands, but there were a few surprises: a float with music from the band U ½... translation: little people singing U2 songs!, an Irish Asian marching band?, and Star Wars characters. Nice... Southie had a equal opportunity parade... how very PC. That must be the reason it was so very, very long. We arrived an hour late and still saw a 3 hour parade! Nevertheless, it was entertaining to be there with all the other Irish / pseudo Irish people who lined the streets while drinking beer and wearing green. Notice the picture of me wearing a clover tiara... because naturally I’m a princess... and my friend Laura is wearing a green afro wig... because she’s crazy... and fun. In summary, Southie was definitely the place to be on St. Patty’s Day in Boston. When we went back to Cambridge later than night for dinner, we were the only people wearing green! Can’t wait for you all to visit! I hear Boston is a beautiful place to visit in the spring, summer, and fall months (hint hint nudge nudge).