11/16/09 04:39 - 43ºF - ID#50324

Tidbit

So when do internationally recognized labor standards get superseded? When union agreements are involved! Next time you find a place where employees work in excess of 60 hours per week, or even 72, or even 80... take a careful look at the collective bargaining agreement. Often times the collective bargaining agreements will even supersede written law, depending on the topic.

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11/09/09 11:41 - 53ºF - ID#50261

Jason the Chef

He's like a leopard, prowling up the side of a mountain. That mountain is called French cuisine and Jason the leopard is conquering this mountain a recipe at a time. Not to brag, but my brother is getting his shit together in the kitchen and it's about time someone gave him some damn recognition for it.

I feel so bad about that journal entry where I compared his picture to a picture of Shaggy!

(If you missed it -

- really only I can get away with this)

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11/05/09 10:34 - 38ºF - ID#50220

La Luna

Has anybody been here recently - say, the past couple of months and can tell me about the atmosphere, vibe, etc.? I haven't been to La Luna in many, many years and I've been recruited into going at the end of the month. Just want to make sure my latin lady friends will have a good time and will not be exposed to some sort of bad night. Any info would be helpful!

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11/02/09 03:22 - 51ºF - ID#50201

Minor alteration to A Vincent Picture

Just had to make a minor alteration to the picture -

I don't recall the last time I drank so much but we hung close with the Brits - we were in fact the last Americans standing and there was no way in hell that I could allow anyone else to have that honor. I am proud to say that we got props on a few occasions during the night from our out of town guests for the Larson sticktoitiveness.

We had a great time and it was a pleasure to get to meet and hang out with (e:rory)'s close friends. Each were great guys who I'd buy a beer (or three) for any day and their respective ladies were really nice gals. The fellas from the UK have friends in the Larson bros. I was pleased with how everything came off with the wedding and it was an honor to have the opportunity to serve as an usher for two wonderful friends.

I have a lot of friends who have wonderful spouses - genuinely fantastic people. However, there was something different about this event that I can't really put into words or express in the way that I'm really feeling about it. I think the best approximation I can come up with is that it is cliche and not always correct to suggest that fate intervenes in people's lives in this way. I've never been convinced of this anyway, at least until this weekend. If you think about the spectacular odds of having a lad from Essex meet a lass from Buffalo in Qatar and having it result in a perfect union of two people who couldn't be more right for each other, it's a bit amazing to consider. It really did bring me joy to actually see this happen in front of my eyes. Today I think about the day that Timika told us that she was moving to Qatar and I can't think of a more consequential decision that any of my friends have ever made.

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09/28/09 02:53 - 56ºF - ID#49877

Keeping Your Modesty

I haven't mentioned the iPhones to Dad yet. He's had a rough time after losing his job and there is something immodest about showing off a new toy to someone who is suffering. It just makes it worse when the suffering person is your father. I know that deep down Dad would never be bothered about it and insists that we occasionally reward ourselves for our hard work. I know that he loves toys and would think it's incredibly cool. However, I still can't bring myself to tell him.

I think that generally this is emblematic of the times we're living in.

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09/24/09 09:30 - 62ºF - ID#49849

I Take Back What I Said RE: Smartphones

Ok,

I'm throwing this out there because I distinctly remember (e:matt) being a little defensive when I really laid into smartphones and smartphone users on this journal.

Don't get me wrong - I still feel justified in lampooning people who are WAY too attached to the technology on their person and will continue to do so in this space, but recently some circumstances have lead me to... ok forced me to reconsider this hardline position I've been taking a bit.

My phone recently broke. I've been plotting purchasing a new iPod for a while. The two needs/desires converged and so both (e:jason) and I decided to get iPhones. This summer I negotiated a significant salary increase, which is sort of a magic trick these days, and I've worked my ass off. I haven't taken time off in three years. I needed a reward really badly, and after looking into the new iPhone I totally fell in love with the unit.

I wish I had one of these when I was traveling full time and I CAN'T WAIT until I can get a chance to travel for the company again, at least for part of the time (I have to accept that my role will keep me anchored to the office). You're going to get pictures/video of me, wherever the hell they send me. You're going to get Joshy singing an autotuned break on a T-Pain track posted on Facebook.

I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but I'm way behind on what's possible with phones these days. You have to realize - I've never owned a phone that could take a picture. A lot of this is new to me and finding ways to use my new phone is going to be a learning experience. I am probably going to have a lot of dumb questions but I look forward to it - I can't wait to master this thing. More than anything I just want to get the most I can out of it.

metalpeter writes at 10:52:42 09/26/09 - Comment #51703: I think you will get a good Balance going. For example at a Party or a Weeding Or some other event I bet you will learn how to talk to someone and then with one hand take some pictures with out missing a beat or maybe even video the hot chick that walks by and distracts you for a second then once the talk is over if it is an (e:strip) event upload the picture or video and tell others to get there and if that same person is on facebook go over to there page and upload it. But I know what you mean about people being to attached. There where this two pretty girls (yes I wanted to bang the blond but something was up with them not saying they where gay but they where very connected) At the Bandits games and they seemed at times more into the blackberry then they game, they are right on the glass to.

jason writes at 04:18:36 09/25/09 - Comment #51681: You should see Josh's current phone. I laughed so hard and I don't even have all that nice of a phone.

joshua writes at 09:35:02 09/25/09 - Comment #51672: I have qualifiers for that Heidi - generally it has to do with replacing your human interaction for interaction with a silly device. You'll have to trust me when I tell you that it will never happen to me. If I ever get to the point where I'm totally consumed with what is going on with my iPhone at a party, for example, rather than trying to chat people up, then that is when I've definitely crossed the line! I'm expecting my friends to keep me in check.

I'm looking forward to it though, and I'm sure I'm going to have fun! Ultimately for me these sorts of decisions are about usefulness and if I didn't think it would be a very useful device then I wouldn't have bothered. I don't really care about the cool factor or being part of a club. My favorite thing about the iPhone is the seemingly limitless creativity that the technology allows its developers to exploit.

james writes at 11:32:59 09/24/09 - Comment #51664: I am Lacutis of Borg. You will comply.

heidi writes at 10:46:36 09/24/09 - Comment #51662: What is a quantifiable indicator of "WAY too attached to the technology on their person"? And are we making bets on how long it will take for (e:joshua) to start exhibiting that indicator?

Have fun!

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09/15/09 02:19 - 73ºF - ID#49778

Good Economic News in Buffalo

I report and comment on so much Buffalo-related negativity that I thought I should provide some balance and show you this -

Awesome. We need more of this. Little by little, brick by brick, this is how you rebuild a dying microeconomy. This is how you employ people. This is how you lure businesses. Operating in Buffalo isn't a privilege - without incentives people would be crazy to (re)locate here. That is, unless you have the wherewithal and resources to locate anywhere you like, flying the altruistic flag high and all. Renovating existing space makes this deal even sweeter.

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09/09/09 11:28 - 70ºF - ID#49729

OMG... Hillary...

Interesting, given the times -

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09/02/09 09:23 - 58ºF - ID#49677

Grr

I have a few books I've thought about buying lately and decided to put together an order on Amazon. I hate it when their free super saver shipping conspires against me. I want to buy two books and the order comes to about $23. Granted, both books are discounted around 40%. I feel like asking them to just charge me $2 more for the books so I don't have to spend $10 on shipping.

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08/26/09 08:50 - 70ºF - ID#49630

Edward Moore Kennedy 1932 - 2009

End of an era indeed. I can't think of many people that lived a fuller life than Sen. Ted Kennedy. Yes, there were some controversies, but on the other hand I can't think of many people that have lived through more tragedy than Sen. Ted Kennedy either. God Bless him - he is the only Kennedy brother to have died a natural death. He was the best looking Kennedy brother as well.