Days 7-8: Celebrations

Apologies for not posting more pictures.  I left the cord that hooks my phone up to my computer at home.  The picture above is from a triple work birthday party on Tuesday.  As a gag gift, my boss got this co-worker a sash and fake mustache (he didn't have to wear the mustache through dinner).  We got a lot of good laughs out of it!  Birthday dinner was held at an elegant establishment called "Uncle Yuu's".  (The name is a bit deceiving, but it really was nice.)  I had beef tenderloin medallions and beautiful orange prawns.  There was wine, smiles, and combat over the lazy susan that held our appetizers.  All in all, it was pretty amazing.

Also, I have a bit of good news.  The doctor completed his tests on my grandpa and found that he is 100% cancer free.  My family and I are breathing a collective sigh of relief.  Big thanks to everyone who expressed their concern.  :)

In the work world, I started my first week of training (ever).  Most of my class sizes have been small, but I've really enjoyed interacting with the workers and bringing them up to speed on how to use our software.  We bribe them to pay attention with candy.  :)  I find it highly effective when I don't eat all the good ones myself.

Tonight, I ate dinner with my friend Toni and her fiancee.  We went to a new place called Sushi Station where the tea was luke warm (but tasty), and the sushi was decent.  In terms of value for our dollar, I think we did fairly well.  It was also neat to learn about the goings on at Toni's work.  She has a cool opportunity coming up, and I'm excited for her.

When I finally got back to the hotel, I joined my co-workers in a game of "Cards Against Humanity".  It's like the messed up adult version of Apples to Apples.  Best of all, the game is relatively free.  It costs about $6 to print the cards at Kinkos.  You can download it here.

Lastly, my romantic life is still going pretty slow again (not the worst thing ever).  I did manage to patch up some hurt feelings with one of my ex's, which makes me happy.  Hopefully, we continue to make forward progress as we get to know each other again.

I was remarking to my friend John that I'm starting to feel like the old, light-hearted Lancifer is rising to the surface again...long overdue in my opinion.  It's really hard telling where tomorrow will take me, but this week has been a good start to what could be some vast improvements in the quality of my life.

Well, it's time for a  little sleep.  I'll catch you all later.

Day.....2? - Resurrection

Well, it's been a while since I blogged, but I think I remember how this works.  Allow me to catch you up.

• Romantic life - I'm currently dating Jenny from Springfield and a girl named Maggie from St. Louis.  I'm not as crazy about Jenny as I was before, but I think this is a good opportunity to try having a normal sustained adult relationship.  I think this would be going better if she hadn't burned me so bad before.  Every day I hope that things will get back to the way they were for me (mentally and in terms of attraction), but it just isn't happening so far.  Maybe I just need to give this time to develop into whatever it's going to be.  *shrugs* 
• Romantic Life 2 - Maggie, on the other hand, is a very casual interest.  She has been a lot of fun hanging out with, and demands very little.  I'm not sure this is a healthy type of relationship to have, but I think that I shouldn't be afraid to try something new while Jenny is unwilling to commit to anything significant.  We'll see how things develop, I guess.
• Work life - I've been put in charge of purchasing, receiving, quality, and transfers at three different warehouses on our client site.  I've been working hard scoping the project, and now I'm beginning training with the clients.  The programming phase will be coming up too, and I can't wait for it!  A big step up in responsibility might signal a raise/promotion for me if I can follow through with this.  We'll see how things go.
• Other life - I haven't really had one.  I've spent so much energy chasing women and working that I haven't had a second to breathe (or blog).  Nothing is ever easy, I guess.  Also, video games are pissing me off.  If League of Legends continues to disappoint me, I'm going to uninstall and pick up the guitar again.

I did spend some time sightseeing around California a couple of weekends ago, and that was pretty fun.  I saw the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, CA.  They have Jelly Belly artwork all over the place and a gigantic tasting area.  Nom!  I also toured Alcatraz and walked along the Golden Gate Bridge.  My friend Toni generously hosted me during my touristy time.  Big thanks to her for putting up with my crap for three days.  :)

In other news, I'm distraught that the Packers beat the Bears for the NFC championship.  I have been a Bears fan since I was big enough to own my first football....game.  Worst of all, my friend Shaun is a big Packers fan, so I have to put up with his gloating for at least a whole year.  =/

Well, that's all the catching up I can stomach.  I'll bring you some more specific and entertaining posts here soon.  I just wanted to lay the foundation for this next chapter.  Hopefully there aren't any more pauses for jager and tears (metaphorical - I cry less than Chuck Norris).

Day 11 - Thank God for Skype

I'd like to give a big shout out to Skype.  They make conversations with amazing ladies possible...and even boneheads like my buddy Asher.  I might be a little intoxicated at the moment, but I had a wonderful evening.  I spent a good chunk of it with my friends Toni Donovan and her fiancee. 

At work, we discovered that my friend Jason has never had mango before.  He mentioned it in one of our interviews, and the client jumped up and grabbed us a fruit tray or four off of the line!  Karthik was so hungry that he tried to eat the packaging and everything.  It was great!

Day 3 - Family Dinner

Today was a grueling day at work.  We had non-stop meetings with people that droned on forever about all the paperwork they have to fill out for their jobs, what problems they experience with their current tools, etc.  I did, however get to talk to some QA folks that had interesting stories about the quality of the food they purchase.  For legal reasons, I can't repeat them here, but I can say that I'll never look at salad kits the same way.

We finished up the day with a big dinner at a quality Italian restaurant.  The Cajun Chicken Fettucini was outstanding!  A member of our client's team, joined us and brought his baby son, John Franklin.  Needless to say, John Franklin stole the show.  Well, I'm running late for work.  More to come later, perhaps.

Day 2 - Back to Work Special



Although it was a heavy travel and work day, I still managed to go out and have some fun!  I got to meet my co-worker K-Man's wife, and our team went out to some brewhouse.  Most of us had burgers for dinner and tried a variety of beers.  I always look for the one with the coolest tap and give it a whirl.  This time, it was a killer whale tap, and the beer was Alaskan White Winter Ale.  It was pretty tastey as far as white ales go.  My buddy J-Mac ordered a jalapeno burger that he couldn't handle, so he whimped out and ordered milk to wash it down.  They brought him the most insulting grade-school cartons of milk for his meal.  It was perfect!