Archive for category Travel
Changing on a Dime… or Nickel… or Penny Even…
So yeah.. not driving to Allentown, PA today… instead I am driving to Cleveland and then doing an install tomorrow and then going to Allentown for Wed and part of Thurs and then to Birdsboro, PA for part of Thurs and Fri and then driving home….
YAH!!!
ROAD TRIP!!!
At least they increased the mileage reimbursement at the start of the year…..
I Have No Problem…
If you want to smoke… that is your choice… I won’t stop you…
If you want to read a map… that is your choice… I won’t stop you….
If you want to drink a cup of coffee… that if your choice… I won’t stop you….
BUT DON’T DO ALL THREE AT THE SAME TIME WHILE TRYING TO DRIVE A CAR!!!!!!
Especially if I am in the lane next to you, between you and an 18 Wheeler. I don’t really like slamming on my brakes because you decide you want to change lanes in CT in your Purple Saturn SL2 from Maryland while smoking a cigarette, drinking a cup of coffee, and reading a map cuz you have no clue where you are!!
I will never understand that about some people, don’t you look at a map before you leave the house or where ever it is you start from? When you get onto a major highway don’t you look to see what number exit you need to get off at? Do you really need to keep the map on your steering wheel while driving because you are so unsure about where you are going? Exits don’t just sneak up on you!!! They have signs warning you that they are coming up, some even a mile or 2 before you actually get there! They are numbered and they are even in NUMERICAL ORDER!!! HOLY SHIT!! HOW SHOCKING IS THAT?!?!
34C
While this number and letter combination is usually a really really really great thing and I am totally excited when I come across it, when it is my seat on an airplane, which means the back and an Aisle, I can’t say I like it too much, especially on a 6 hours SFO to Newark flight.
Not only did the people in seats A and B need to get up at least a dozen times each, they could not co-ordinate their leaving of the seats, and also some people feel the need to bang into other people while making their way to the bathroom on the plane.
grrrrrrrrr
Ok… So I am Finally Leaving California…
and I am moving on to bigger and better things…. well, ok so that is a lie… I am headed to the great state of New Jersey tomorrow!
From the scenic beauty of California, to the Scenic…. something or other…. of New Jersey…
What fun what fun!
I think I will be home at some point on Saturday…. depends if I do the second partial install Fri night and Sat morning or not….
*burp* yet another night of sushi out here in California… I will miss that!
Karma Maybe?
So yes, I am back here in California now…
and someone or something is looking out for me, 2 weeks ago when I was here Avis screwed up a bit when they were out in the garage putting the name tags in the cars, so when I went out to get my car I came across a beautiful site…. a 2006 Mustang Convertible, I was psyched and very happy for this upgrade….. so I get in and head to the exit… I get there and find out that it was not my car, they had put the tag in the wrong vehicle, I was supposed to be in a Ford Taurus. OOOOOO FUN! NOT.
So I spent a week in that Taurus and dealt with it…
Well… today I was repaid… I legitimately got a 2006 Red Convertible Mustang.
It is fantabulous!
That deep throaty sound as you rev the engine or accelerate down the highway…. yeah… I like that!
However, I do have a few complaints…
1- Trunk space just is not there, you can fit 2, maybe 3 bodies in it, unless they are Calista Flockheart, then we could probably squeeze in 6 or 7.
2- Peripheral Vision…. really small rear window… not that great…. but with the top down it is no problem… take the good with the bad…
3- The speedometer… it only goes to 120mph, what the hell? My Jetta goes to 140!
and the last one… which anyone who knows me will probably agree that this is a crime against humanity…
4- It is an automatic…. yes, a high performance traditional US made Muscle Car has an automatic transmission in it. I think the crime against humanity is the fact that they even make these things with an automatic transmission in them! I know a lot of people say, “Why does it matter?” or “Who cares?”, and to these people, 99% of them have 1 of 2 things in common, they either can’t drive a stick, or they have never driven one for any extended period of time! I shall never go back to an auto again unless I am put under the threat of death!
ANY high performance sports car or muscle car should be a manual transmission… Porsche… Ferrari… Corvette… Camaro…. Mustang… jaguar… ALL of them should only be made in manual transmissions…
but I will enjoy this car none the less, but it could have been better….
I may need to go cruise for chicks just because I can!
FINALLY
So, while I know this is going to be disappointing to at least one person on my friends list, I won’t be going back to California next week!! I will be at home, and working in Burlington for at least 2 days, and possibly working from home the other 3, ABOUT FUCKING TIME!
but anyway, my flight is delayed right now but thank goodness for iPass so I can log on here and post some meaningless blogs…
One Nice Thing About California
Sushi, Sushi Sushi
The quality and volume of sushi places out here is really really good, plus they are imaginative and have some really cool combinations that we just don’t have at most places around us, and it is a ton cheaper!!
I think I am gonna OD on Sushi while I am here, i have had it for at least 3 meals this week already! Plus at least 2 or 3 times the previous 2 weeks. I am almost out of things to try at Imura here in Watsonville! Hopefully I will not be back next week so I won’t have to worry about having something a second time, or getting sick of it
A Week Since My Last Update
Yeah.. busy week… to summarize….
I am back in California this week, same place as last week and it will be the same place next week.. I am coming home for the weekend though since I have a bunch of things to do and want to go get my newsed car registered on Monday.
Still trying to deal with VW on the situation with my car but I bought a Saab in the mean time to get me around when I am home. I figure once I get my car back I will either go enter a demolition derby with the Saab, or sell it. Depends on my mood at the time.
So CA is not all that interesting, I am working 11-17 hour days while I am here, and working is not really working since I sit here, and watch a computer screen and try to clear up any problems that happen.
Their system keeps locking up because of the way our programmers programmed the system, they fucked up so I need to sit and keep this thing on life support while they write new code to try to compensate for the problem.
Fuck, but on the upside, I am earning a ton of FF miles, Holiday Inn Priority points, I am not spending any of my own money on anything, and I am really cranking up the billable hours!!! I think I might almost be at my quarterly amount and I am only a couple weeks into the year!
What I am really waiting for is 11 days from now for my paycheck, that is gonna be the nice one, my 4th quarter bonus and then all the leftover from my 2nd and 3rd quarters that they held back from me last year.
I had tried to write a couple blogs earlier this week but the damn thing kept screwing up on me so I could not post em… oh well….
if you are ever in Watsonville, CA – then definitely check out Green Valley Grill and Cilantro’s Mexican restaurants. They are both really good. I had a very nice double breast of duck with a juniper, raspberry and red wine reduction with saphron rice and then at Cilantros I had some soft tacos ‘con carne asada’ and orange rice, and they were all really really good!
I am on the red eye home tonight, same as last week and same as planned for next week. That was the reason I did not make it to the show last week, I was totally drained and slept off and on Sat afternoon and was just too wiped to go out in public!
have a great weekend and hope all is well with all of you!
The Saga of the Bag
Ok, so I could not post earlier for some reason, MySpace was being a douche….
So, at 9:45 last night I decided I did not trust Delta, and I went to target and bought some jeans, a shirt, some socks, underwear, and some Sudafed, and as I am standing there picking out my underwear, I get flashbacks to childhood where there are announcements over the intercom telling us that it is 10pm and the store is now closed, please take all your purchases to the front of the store. Not sure why that always happened as a kid, but I have a ton of memories of being at either Caldor or Bradlees with my mom, and the lights dimming and that announcement over the loud speakers the metal gate being half lowered across the doorway into the mall, but I have gotten off track now…
So, I got a call last night at 11ish from Tony The Flying Moose Delivery Service(I will leave the name alone, what can I say that can improve the humor in that?) telling me that he would be dropping my bag off to the Best Western on Main street in Watsonville in about a half an hour.
I felt the need to correct him, and tell him I was at the Holiday Inn Express, not the Best Western, and he looked at the slip and says “Oh yeah, it does say that doesn’t it”
oye….
So I go to bed….
3am rolls around and the phone rings, I wake up and answer it and don’t even let the person speak, I simply mutter the words…
“I’ll pick it up in the morning” and then hang up the phone.
So I get up, put on my new clothes and go down and check out and get my suitcase…. stick my dirty clothes in the suitcase in the target bag and then check out and go drop the suitcase into my trunk, basically untouched…
So that is that…
but I ended up coming back to the hotel tonight and checking back in because my work plans have changed and I am now here til Friday when I will be taking a red eye home…. so no New Jersey for me… Shucks… I am terribly disappointed…
GUESS WHAT!?!?!
NO BAGS YET!!!!
Shocking isn’t it? Although according to online, they will be delivered to me at my hotel by Flying Moose Delivery between 4pm and 4am.
What the fuck? it is 8:45 already!
I WANT CLEAN UNDERWEAR!!!!
I WANT MY COUGH AND COLD MEDICINE!!!
I DON’T WANT TO GO SPEND MONEY ON THEM AGAIN!