(e:jenks) and (e:ladycroft) - for you. Or whoever else wants to see my extremely girly hotel room I stayed in last night!

I thought some of you might get a kick out of this.



I've got a wicked cold so I'm going to relax in the hotel today!

Hello from Seattle!



One of the apple producers we visited did something very unique - the place was run by a kid my age (not bad for a multimillion dollar business) and his mother is an artist. She wanted to do something for the workers to make their areas a little brighter and nicer, so she hung some paintings. I thought it was cute.






Here are some random scenic shots.

Hello again my friends.



We actually had some sunshine in Yakima today but just when I went to go take a picture the sun went away. It won't stop freaking raining here either.

We worked with one of the largest apple farms in the universe today - did you know that apples are given an acid bath in order to remove hard water buildup before they are rinsed? After that, depending on where you live and the store you buy from, a shellac wax layer is sprayed on... did I mention that shellac is produced by insects? Nummy. Still though, they have varieties of apples here that they simply don't sell in New York State due to lack of demand. I've been told to try Fuji, Pink Lady and Braeburn. You can read more here -

See you later!

Hello e-friends.

The flight into Portland was 4.5 hours from Chicago - Thats the same amount of time it takes to fly from L.A. to Washington, if your pilot is hauling major ass. It wasn't that bad of a flight... if you don't count Just Like Heaven. The best thing about that movie is Reese Witherspoon, of course. It is a terrible movie, however.

The weather here is in the mid to upper 40's, with more rain than I even could have imagined in a joke about how rainy this part of the country is. Its a gorgeous place though... the drive was very scenic.

Washington state is famous for its apples, and we are in the apple capital of the planet; Yakima, WA. Practically every single grocer in America sources its apples from here, and its interesting to learn how it is that they bring them to market from the tree to your grocer. There is far more involved than I originally thought. The worst part about seeing all of these perfect apples is that I'm bound by company policy and cannot try one. Go to the store and buy some of the Pink Lady variety, friends... they are one of the best apples for straight up eating.

As usual I'm learning more Spanish and am trying to dig up all of the Spanish I forgot. I think the best way to do this, besides watching Telemundo, is to listen to Spanish language songs, get the lyrics, and try to translate. I love the Spanish language... love songs in Spanish are absolutely beautiful. Somehow the Spanish language is able to say more than would be possible in English. My two favorites so far are an Argentinean band called Los Enanitos Verdes, and a Mexican group called Mana. Highly recommended. Here are the lyrics from a song called Luz de Dia, by Los Enanitos Verdes -

Destapa el champagne, apaga las luces
dejemos las velas encendidas
y afuera las heridas
ya no pienses más en nuestro pasado
hagamos que choquen nuestras copas
por habernos encontrado
y porque:
Puedo mirar el cielo, besar tus manos
sentir tu cuerpo, decir tu nombre
y las caricias serán la brisa
que aviva el fuego
de nuestro amor, de nuestro amor
puedo ser luz de noche, ser luz de día
frenar el mundo por un segundo
y las caricias serán la brisa
que aviva el fuego
de nuestro amor, de nuestro amor
El tiempo dejó su huella imborrable
y aunque nuestras vidas son distintas
esta noche todo vale
tu piel y mi piel, ves que se reconocen
es la memoria que hay en nuestros
corazones, y porque...
Puedo mirar el cielo, besar tus manos
sentir tu cuerpo, decir tu nombre
y las caricias serán la brisa
que aviva el fuego
de nuestro amor, de nuestro amor
puedo ser luz de noche, ser luz de día
frenar el mundo por un segundo
y que me digas cuanto querías
que esto pasara
una ves más, y otra ves más, y porque
Puedo mirar....
sin tu amor no se vivir
porque sin tu amor
yo me voy a morir de pena....

I can look at the sky, kiss your hands, feel your body, say your name, and the caresses will be the breeze that fans the flame of our love?!?!

I love those lyrics. And the song is killer too.

So I went to Sahara Grill today for lunch! Why the hell did I not make the time for this sooner.... I was very happy. I needed some humor so I brought the New York Times with me. I had the shrimp and falafel wrap, with a salad, some Pepsi and a pot of the Turkish coffee. DELICIOUS! The coffee impressed me the most - what a cool little serving pot they have. I'm making it back there first thing when I come back from Seattle.

I ran into (e:leetee) and (e:uncut) on my way - they were banking and so was I. Hmm... what else... no, thats about it. I enjoyed the day off. I don't remember the last unjustified midweek day off I had, so this was a nice diversion.

NYC Council elected its first openly gay speaker, and to be honest I'm a little surprised that it hasn't happened sooner. This lady has pledged to work with the Mayor on issues facing the city, but lets be honest... she's an uberliberal and he's not. Trust me, it ain't going to work out for NYC politics anytime soon. Thats like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi saying they'd work with the President after the past election. Its only lip service.

I want to eat healthier on the road. Any suggestions?

Today I took a day trip with the Prez of my company to Toronto for an audit - let me tell you, (e:peeplz), its amazing how fast two white guys in a Lexus can get through the border! It went like this on the way home -

Border Guard: "What are your nationalities?"

Me and Tha Bossman: - "United States."

Border Guard: "Bring anything back with you?"

Me and Tha Bossman: "Nope."

Border Guard: "Buh-Bye."

I do not kid about the buh-bye thing. That was the cleanest border crossing I've had in my life, and the conversation couldn't have lasted more than three seconds.

It was interesting today though - they were a snack food manufacturer ran by Christian Iraqis. The employees were immigrants from a variety of different countries in Asia, and a lot of them had engineering degrees! The guys running the machines had the knowledge to reprogram the machines... you know I travel a lot and that was a first. Everybody was VERY friendly to me and were eager to show me how the operation works; I don't remember seeing that much enthusiasm at a factory. For a couple people I had to speak through a translator (I don't speak Punjabi) which is common for my line of work, but it was no problem at all. The ladies were sweet to me - from their reaction I don't think they've spoken directly to many Americans, and I was just as eager to chat with them as they were with me. This older Iraqi lady gave me a blessing and wished me a lot of success. Then she said that if/when we go back that she wanted me to try some Iraqi food. Can one person possibly ask for more than that from a sweet old lady?

My trip to Portland and Seattle will be going on as scheduled, although the schedule is still kind of loose. For example, I know that I'll be there for around two weeks, but I still don't know when it is precisely that I'll be home. I'm bringing the digicam with me to get some cool shots of the mountains.

Not to end with a downer, but my heart is heavy for a couple of my co-workers tonight. My co-workers and friends Julio and Rosario are in Miami tonight taking care of their mother, who had a series of very bad health issues pile on top of each other yesterday. She has emphasema (sic?) and she began to have respiratory problems around 4AM - shortly thereafter she got hit with a heart attack/cardiac arrest. Now she is in a hospital and the only thing keeping her alive is a machine. Did I mention that despite her illness she kept smoking for years? What a silly, disgusting way to go out. When I check out of the Life Hotel, you better believe that its going to be because of an accident or natural causes unrelated to smoking cigarettes.

She knew she was sick, and she had a wicked sense of humor about it. She said, "Don't pull the plug right away - give me a couple weeks to try to snap out of it first, then you can pull the plug!" I had the chance on a few occasions during my visits to Miami to stop by her house - when I walked in she'd be yelling "SIENTATE!" Then she would offer me that cuban coffee I love so much, and she'd cut me slices of papaya and say, "Mas, mas?" I'm saying a prayer for her and for my friends tonight, because I've had to watch my dad sign the Do Not Resuscitate form with tears streaming down his face when my grandfather was dying. That is one of the worst decisions a person has to make their entire lives.

At work yesterday I got a big bomb dropped on me - I'm going to be travelling to Portland, OR and Seattle, WA! Outstanding, I've been waiting to go to the Pac-NW. The problem is that I'm going to be gone for 2.5 weeks straight - yes thats right, 2 weekend stayovers. At least I'll be in Seattle and will have some crap to see and do.

I hope everybodys Christmahannukwanzikah was bright and full of good cheer, and what not. Ours was fairly good - I got a bunch of cash and a full set of brand new kitchenware. I usually just want cash, but my grandma always insists on having at least one "present" to open. Such a sweet lady!

Now, on to some news -

UPS worker goes postal! Article ->

And also back to my personal pet peeve - the media elite. You've read the article in a previous journal of mine about the media and their incapability to deal with realities the rest of us face, if you are in fact a discerning lurker at estrip - now this one truly is over the top. Article ->

This is going to set off a rant. This guy is arguing that pricing the creative class out of living in Manhattan is somehow going to doom journalism. I don't think I've read anything so lathered in bullshit all year long. Poor, poor journalists. They can't get by on only $250k a year in New York. There are graduates coming out of college now that could do their job equally well for HALF of what these journalists are making currently, and would jump at the chance. Hey (e:hodown), think its possible to live in Manhattan on $250k a year? They face "excruciating" - their word, not mine - choices like public or private school. Are they even reading what they are writing? Yeah, you can definitely live on $250k a year in Manhattan - but not how they want to live. They think they should be earning what i-bankers and lawyers earn, because these are who they consider to be their "peers." BAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! Nothing personal, journalists, but a journalism degree isn't really considered a professional degree like an MBA, JD or MD. You aren't on par with the real professionals, and no amount of telling yourself over and over that you belong in a certain class in society is going to change fact!

The print business is a bad business to be in - readership is dropping like a rock. Unfortunately for these purveyors of self-delusion, they use the same argument to make their argument that other people use to criticize pay for professional athletes. Our society doesn't pay people based on their status or benefit to society(actual or self-perceived). People make what they make based on market conditions and their benefit to the company that they work for. PERIOD.

Essentially, the thrust of this article is that these journalists feel that they have a certain "status" in society, and that because of that status they are entitled and should demand pay and a lifestyle that befits their "status." The sense of entitlement and arrogance from these people literally makes me want to vomit.

My favorite quote from the article is this -

"We New York-area journalists shouldn't ask for pity, and we don't deserve it. As a class, we're bourgeois and ambitious. We like comfort and access, but we don't want to work all that hard."

If you didn't want pity, WHY DID YOU WRITE THE ARTICLE? They, in this journalists own words, don't want to work that hard? Thank you, dear journalists, for proving what a lot of us already knew was true - you don't understand how regular people live, and you can't relate to them whatsoever... and as a result the regular folks should be paying attention to your views on things such as domestic issues and politics. These are the people that are supposed to guide us on how we should be viewing the world? BULLSHIT.

Couldn't help but laugh after seeing this -



Harry Reid the day that the Patriot Act was signed. I also read this morning that Eminem's music was used as a "torture device" during interrogations - no lie. The indignity of it all!

In todays news -

1. Atlanta theater promoting pedophile musical - sorry if I offend anyone, but if you consider that "art" you are a piece of shit human being. These people are refering to this abomination as "delicate" and "heart wrenching" - I want to vomit. Article here ->

2. My personal second favorite crazy asshole, the leader of Iran (close second behind Hugo Chavez) bans Western music from Iranian radio. Article here ->

3. Drunken Santas on rampages worldwide! Article here ->

I had intended on going to the Snow Party but I hit a snag and couldn't make it. I hate owing shit to people.

Firstly, HAPPY B-DAY (e:hodown)!! I was interested to see that (e:jessbob) was there, as well as the usual suspects. I'm glad that some people posted some pictures from the party - looks like it was a blast!