📅 June 2005

And I'm planning on working some of that 2-liter bottle of Brugal into my belly... hauling that shit for a week in a half out of Republica Dominicana was a bitch.

Its nice to be home but for me since I spend a majority of my time in other places it actually takes me time to readjust to being here... then as soon as I get comfy again I have to pack my shit and leave.

The hotel I stayed at this week was in a Mennonite community. I have to say though, the hotel was ridiculously nice. The rooms were huge, we had balcony access overlooking a waterfall loaded with goldfish, and the lanterns in the hotel were handmade by a blacksmith that works in the adjacent living history community... complete with leaves and vines made of iron!

This coming Sunday I leave Buffalo once again :( for sunny Southern California. We are staying a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean in Hermosa Beach. I'm getting an iPod before I go, and I have some ideas for music to put on it that I do and do not have...

1. Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits
2. Pink Martini
3. various latin music (bachata is my favorite)
4. Some classic rock
5. MMW's latest
6. Coldplay's latest
7. Some 80's tunes

Anybody have some ideas for my new iPod?

@drchlorine and his opposites day post referring to his ex -

"You were never one for drama. So, how are things going?"

Bravo. Chalk one up for the fella!

P.S. Brodo waitresses aren't that hot at all. And no, that isn't an opposites day comment. If @jason bothered I'd be disappointed. That would be like paying $800 for a can of shitty sardines when for $50 you could go to another locale and get smoked salmon.

Who is that girl that is talking about her clit pulsing? That is making me e-blush! Contrary to popular belief I love feminists.

Wait, was the Pink last night or tonight? If its tonight I'm clearly instructing my brother to buy shots for the ladies. Guys... as usual you have to fend for yourselves!

For sticking up for yourself and not taking any bullshit - if his face looks like it went through a cabbage shredder so be it.

Anyhow, Dominican Republic was great - eventually if @jason helps me post the pics I have I'll share them. I've definitely been bitten by the international travel bug... except for Europe. I truly have no desire to visit there whatsoever.

You'd be surprised about how many companies in the United States utilize some very extensive recycling programs. One of the companies I've visited recycled 100% of their waste products and were able to reintroduce that material back into their product cycle. Its truly amazing to see.

The problem is that the amount of recycling that can be done is highly dependant on the product. Some processes are virtually impossible to introduce extensive recycling programs, however the majority of companies can find at least some way to either recycle waste or use products vital to the process that are harmless to the environment. I was at a furniture manufacturer in St. Louis this past week that used a type of glue that they could pour right down the drain with no problems whatsoever. 2 weeks before that I was at a 3M plant in Kentucky where Post-It Notes are made. This place recycled a vast majority of their waste products. Also, most places that produce injection molded items simply grind up rejects and melt the plastic back down to reuse.

I think companies have a responsibility to their community and their shareholders to pursue this type of thing... for a lot of companies good recycling programs is good business. Learn about manufacturing and come up with some brilliant ideas... maybe one day they will name a recycling process after you!

I see the elmwood blogathon is still rolling along - good to see!

@ladycroft - some friendly advice. If you are wondering why you attract the lowest percentage of guys in the world, perhaps its because they are sick and tired of hearing from you about how everything they do, think and say is wrong. 99% of the guys I know (college educated, attractive, high earners, hard workers, non-cheaters) would run away from a girl with that attitude in a heartbeat... its a lot easier to just go home and jerk off than deal with that kind of thing. Don't take that as a personal criticism because its definitely not - I'm sure that you are an absolute peach and there is nothing wrong with setting standards... but you need to give these guys a break!

Poor @jason is left to his own devices 3-5 days a week while I do my new job. The company I work for is very small, but its a specialized and very young industry so I'm excited to be a part of it. Large corporations (Wal*Mart, Levi-Strauss, DKNY, etc.) hire my company to go out to various locations globally to audit their suppliers to ensure they are up to legal and ethical standards so that they don't end up like Kathy Lee Gifford and have egg on their faces. Sweatshops are a BAD thing. We take tours of the facilities, do some OSHA work, interview management, audit their financials to make sure the workers aren't being taken advantage of, we do worker interviews and review personnel files to ensure no illegal aliens are working there, and review a shitload of documents to ensure that these companies are doing right by their employees. The human rights componentof our work is definitely the most important thing - hell, its the entire reason why we do what we do.

The best thing? The travel, definitely. We travel to 27 states and most countries in Central and South America, as well as some select countries in Asia. Mind you, this is not your stereotypical white people vacation package - I leave for the Dominican Republic Monday morning and I assure you that I'll be going places that Americans typically don't go to. However, the good part of that is that I'm getting some experiences that a vast majority of people never will get. Another plus is that because I'm literally the youngest person on the planet doing this work and its specialized, the earning potential for such an intelligent and attractive Northern gentleman like myself is very, very high. Plus, all travel expenses and food are covered so we eat like kings (healthy kings though!).

The worst part? Having to see things that make you nervous for the workers, and some of the squalor that these people live in. Haiti is without question the worst country - Cite Soleil section of Port Au Prince is completely polluted with garbage stacked 20 feet high, raw sewage running along the sides of the dirt roads, dead people stacked on top of said garbage... people literally live like animals out there. It makes you very, very sad to see those types of things - then when you go to where these people work (typically they earn less than $2 a day, $1 of which they have to pay for on-site food) your jaw just drops at how messed up these places are. It makes you appreciate what we have here stateside that much more. Our self-absorbed lives have miniscule problems in comparison. Domestically a big problem is competition with China, who have a laundry list of human rights issues of their own. What am I supposed to say to workers, 75% of which got pink slips because their jobs are moving to China where people make 20 cents an hour... assuming that they aren't bonded laborers or straight up prison laborers? I hate that part.

Granted I do have a lot of international and domestic travel ahead of me, so I don't get to see much of my brother or my humble bachelor pad (best location on the strip... don't hate!). Screw it though... I'm young, unattached and have no looming priorities. By far my favorite place is the southern area of the United States. Don't get me wrong... I love my Buffalo girls... but ladies in the north aren't even on the same radar as the ladies down south!

Keep it real B-lo - when I'm actually home you'll be seeing me on the patio pulling ice cold Coronas out of my cooler! And don't forget - its "Be Good to @jason Week" every week I'm gone... if I'm not here he won't cook for himself! Haha.