sushi at one of my favorite places in my neighbouthood.
Personal
Be Here Now
Last year I went to some culture training in London for work. I have wanted to write about the experience for a while and I keep putting it off. Much of what I learned I have been actively trying to use every day. That of course was the point of the culture training, to get everyone taking part to think and act differently in their interactions with each other. At at the end of the training we were asked to write down things we learned at the training that we wanted to remember to do every day.We were given an “I will” card to write the items down on and put it in our wallets. I don’t keep the card in my wallet but it sits at the base of my monitor at work so i have it to reference if I ever need to. I keep a picture of it in my Evernote so I always have it with me. On my trip to Minnesota last month I was having dinner with several managers including my manager and his manager and the topic of the cards came up. Out of the 5 of us present everyone remembered what they had on their card or produced it out of their wallet to show they still had it. Some of these people had taken this training 2 years ago. It was interesting to see that everyone was still invested in changing our behaviors with each other, and that I wasn’t the only person actively working to inprove.
I have been mindful of things I want to improve on however that experience got me wanting to renew my efforts at self improvement. The first item on my “I will” card was a reminder that I will apply what i learned at the workshop. To me that was a catch all to just remember to think about what I learned and not forget. That is harder than it seems. There are many days were I don’t remember however thankfully I think the majority of the time I am mindful of things i want to be doing. The first I will that I learned that I wanted to live by is “be here now”.
Be here now is a fascinating concept that can be applied to work life as well as personal life. It simply is to remind me to be in the moment and avoid distractions. At work that means focusing on a meeting or a conversation and not multi-task. It means paying attention and giving what you are doing your undivided attention. At home it means to not be distracted by work. To me it means that I want to leave my phone on my desk or if i have to in my pocket when i get home and not be distracted by it or what it is alerting to me. I get so little time with my kids when I get home and almost no time in the morning during the week. I want to make use of that valuable time and not be distracted by my phone, work or anything else. There are days when I am. I am not perfect but i am getting better. I want to get to a place were i put my devices away in a drawer and not worry about stuff.
Maybe I am concerned about this because I am in the technology field or because i read about how kids react to parents distracted by devices. I also read and see how families and small kids just zone out with devices when together. I worry about that with my family. I know MC and I are role models for them and the girls watch what we do and try to emulate us. That is why be here now is important to me on a personal level as well as a professional one.
The training was a very enlightening experience for me. Seeing how it affected and continues to guide others that I work with is also good to see.
Be here now was one of 4 items on my I will card. I hope to write about the other ones in the near future. One of the points in an upcoming post I think will have a lot to do with be here now so I wanted to write about it first.
Note the photo in this post is from my desk at home. Everyone who went through the training got that placard. I see it around my office here and there. I know people who put up posters in their garage to remind them as they got home to be mindful. I felt the biggest impact for me would be at my desk at home since that is where i put my bag and keys, etc right when i get home.
I am not ashamed that I get excited by LED lightbulbs
Today MC and I took some of our holiday to goto Home Depot. We are looking at renovating our kitchen and we needed to investigate some details. After we finished doing that I wanted to check out the lighting section. Our fixtures in the ceiling are not big enough to allow me to put in 75 Watt equivalent CFL bulbs. I have enough trouble seeing on a bright sunny day outside so I can use every extra lumen I can get. I recently read about a flat LED bulb from Phillips. The shape of the bulb had me curious if a 75 Watt equivalent would fit in the ceiling fixtures. The only problem has been that the last Home Depot and every online store I have gone to have not had them in stock. I am not ashamed to say I was very happy to see that this Home Depot had them in stock. I picked up 4 of them to see if they would work out. I was happy to see that the bulbs do fit perfectly in the fixtures were only 60 watt equivalent CFL’s fit before. In our bedroom it was amazing how an extra 300-400 lumens make the room so much brighter.
Besides the fact that I now have brighter lighting in the apartment, these bulbs shouldn’t need to be changed until after Amelia is out of College. That is assuming we still live in this apartment. The LED bulbs will also allow me to dim them. Master plan is to put in smart dimmer switches that plug into my home automation system. The possibilities get interesting once i do that. I hope to write about that once my plans start to materialize, but I am excited by the possibilities. Yes I said it i am excited about new light bulbs and light switches. I had to think about why that was. The reason I came to is I always loved Science Fiction. I don’t yet have swooshing doors that open when i walk up to them but I can have lights that dim depending on the time of day or go off when people leave the room. That on top of the fact that my iPad seems to do more than those PADD’s in Star Trek The Next Generation my 12 year old self would think I am living in a great Sci-Fi future. Take that Star Trek!
Its Been Fun Getting Excersise But I Want My Elivator
In October my building began upgrades on the elevator we use. We only have access to one elevator so without it we have to walk up the stairs. It is not so bad during the week. it is only a few flights. The challenge is the weekends when we need to move two small children. It is still amazing to me how much gear we need to transport when going anywhere with two kids. Even with an elevator going anywhere in the car was challenging since MC would go get the car and i would get downstairs with all the gear and both kids. Now we have to get down flights of stairs with both of them and stuff. it becomes a production. For a basic outing near the house it is not significantly easier. We had to leave the stroller in a room in our lobby and carry Amelia and have Teagan walk down the stairs. I have been a sucker recently and picking Teagan up when she asks. Did i mention she asks all the time to be carried. Its just easier than having he take 5 minutes to walk up stairs.
Other challenges we have are simply doing laundry. our laundry room is in our basement. No problem you think, its just one more floor of steps to go down. You would be correct if there was stairs that went to the basement. Without an elevator we have to go outside to get to the basement. In the winter when its cold or rainy that is an added bonus when we have to do the laundry.
I only feel compelled to write about this now since we are at or past the due date for the elevator to be done. The reality is the work needed to be done so we sucked it up and dealt with the situation. Now when the project is supposed to be done any day now, i can’t have it working soon enough. Apparently all construction work is done but the city needs to inspect it. Fingers crossed that when i get home today it will be done but i don’t know how good my luck is.
One of The Best Meals I Have Ever Had
Even before MC and I were married we became fan’s of fine dining every once in a while. I don’t consider us foodies (yet) but we do like to go out and enjoy a good meal. We have been watching Top Chef for a while and have sampled a few places in NYC from famous chef’s. We went to Craft for our first anniversary. Late last year we went to a restaurant run by one of the Top Chef winners, Hung.
Inevitably we don’t get out as much as we would like to. This year for our 3rd anniversary we wanted to go somewhere nice. Last year Amelia was only home from the hospital a week and we were lucky enough for MC’s parents to be around to let us go out to somewhere in the neighborhood. It was a great meal but nothing too fancy. This year we planned at the last minute so finding a nice place was a challenge. Instead of looking for a place associated by someone on Top Chef we looked at the Michelin starred restaurants in NYC. After some trying we were able to get reservations at Jean Georges. it is one of a handful of 3 star Michelin restaurants in the US. Last year for restaurant week we went to the bar or whatever they call the more casual part of Jean Georges but this time we went to the full dining room.
MC was running late due to train issues, so I hung out at the bar till she arrived. I tried an Old Fashoned. I wasn’t a fan. It is the 2nd one that i didn’t like so i think i am just not a fan of the drink so i will stop trying to make it at home. I swithed to my favorate Sidecar when we got to our table. We both opted for the 3 course menu. Everything was fantastic. I think MC said her secound course was the single best bite of food that she has had. It was that good. It may have arguably been the best meal i have ever had. If not the best it is in the top 5. I paid extra for the beef 3rd course. It was delicious but if we ever went back I would try for something different. Suprisingly the least favorate course for me was my 2nd course of Foie Gras. It was good but MC and I both thought it wasn’t spectacular.
Desert was fantastic. We each went with the chocolate option. They do themes for desert so we had the option of winter, chocolate, carmel, or i think orange or lemon. Neither of us could agree on who would do chocolate and who would get carmel so we both got the chocolate. We also got a little chocolate cake for our anniversary. I was glad to mention that we were celebrating when they asked when we sat down.
Overall we had a fantastic night. Jean Georges also was the single most expensive dinner I can remember spending money on but it was worth every penny. We are now thinking of what we want to do for our next nice night out. That wont be till my birthday at minimum but we want to plan this time. I think we are both thinking of going to Le Bernardin. We both want to go but we haven’t been able to get reservations, so next time we need to plan ahead.
Day Off
Today I took a day off to relax. After dropping Teagan at her tot’s class I headed into the city for a hot stone massage at this place MC sent me to as a gift a few years ago. It was really good so I wanted to treat myself. After a relaxing morning I hit up a coffee shop around the corner from the spa for some lunch. From there I headed up to Penn Station and went out to my parents place to get my mom’s car. After that it was a few errands around my neighborhood and then home a little early to put the kids to bed. MC is working late tonight and hopefully should be home in a few minutes. I am trying to avoid the Macaroons I bought for us until she gets here.
The Manhattan Part 2
Tonight was my 2nd attempt at mixing up Manhattan’s. This time around was also a success too. I didn’t drink all of it just because it was a lot to drink for a Monday night. I had enough to know that I have the recipe down to move on to my next drink.
I am not sure what I am going to try next. I made one Old Fashioned last week. According to my own standards I made up last week I want to do at least two rounds (one for MC & I each) so a total of 4 drinks to be comfortable to move on to the next one. Besides the Old Fashioned I have a total of 10 other drinks I have that I want to try mixing up. 4 of them are summery ones so I have 6 to try before I will look at variations. So far this hobby has been pretty fun, although it can cost a lot in money and calories.
The Manhattan Part 1
Tonight I mixed up my first round of Manhattan’s. For this drink I needed to go out and purchase some Sweet Vermouth. I only had dry. I learned the difference today. I also wanted to get a Rye Whiskey. The Manhattan’s I tried at bar’s were with that and I liked it. I only had Jack Daniels at home.
Once I had my ingredients (and the kids were sleeping) I got to my mixing. As drinks go this was not challenging to make compared to some of the other ones I have tried. The end result was delicious. MC and I both liked the first batch. They were very strong however. 3oz of alcohol in a single drink will do that too you.
Whiskey Smash Take 3
Tonight was my 3rd attempt at the Whiskey Smash. It was delicious. That makes two successful attempts in a row. I think one more and I will call it a mastering of the drink. At least a mastery for home use. I am not quitting my day job. This last round of drinks I plan for tomorrow in now has anything to do with the fact that the mint I bought is likely going bad and may not last past tomorrow.
Taking a break from my hobby for a day
Tonight I am taking the day off from my mixology hobby I have adopted. MC and I are both trying to fight colds and the last two days of tasting my concoctions are likely not the greatest thing for my throat. I hope to resume my experimenting with the Whiskey smash tomorrow night.