Personal

Two Offices In One Day

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Today I started off in the office down town. I worked there for the morning and took care of a few meetings. Then at lunch time I went up to midtown for lunch and meetings the rest of the afternoon. It was a productive day. I stayed later than I anticipated but I was glad to get allot of work done!

Nothing spectacular happened at home tonight. Just relaxed and played a bit too much Xbox 360. I don’t do it all the time but I go through spurts of actively playing. I think I started one of those cycles on Sunday.

New Watch Band

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After months of waiting I finally got the call that my new watch band is in. Back in December I decided that I wanted to replace the band on the Omega Speedmaster my dad gave me. The watch was 39 (in december) years old and it had the original band. Whenever I used it when I went to work I was scratching the bottom of it when I typed at my desk. Not wanting to continue to damage an irreplaceable piece of the watch (that band was discontinued and virtually impossible to get) or get a new one. I opted for a leather strap and titanium clasp. Back in December they said it would be a few weeks to get. By February they hadn’t shown up yet. I was not happy but figured I it was something that would never come in. I hadn’t paid for it yet so I thought nothing of it.

Fast forward till last week, and I was in the office and decided to check my voice mail. Oddly enough there were voice mails from the jeweler saying the band and clasp had show up, but the VM’s were from March. Now it is important to note that I goto this office once maybe twice a week. Because of that I don’t give out that number to anyone. When I am in the office I sometimes point my Google Voice number to that land line phone at my desk, but not always. Apparently the local voice mail system had picked up a few calls that the Google Voice VM should have caught. I never thought to check the voice mail since my phone doesn’t have a light telling me I have messages.

Once I heard the messages I called the jeweler to see if the stuff I ordered was still around after 2+ months. Yesterday I got a call saying they were and I could stop by anytime to get them. Today after work I headed over there to get them. 15 minutes later and a wallet that was much lighter than when I went in I had my new strap and clasp. The new look makes the watch look almost like a different one. The old steel band is in a safe place and will goto my parents for storage in the near future. My dad was quick to point out that I paid more for this upgrade than he did for the whole watch back in 1969. I still think it was worth it since with this new upgrade I will wear it more. I wore it more last week than I did in the past year!

photo photo

Meetup With Long Lost Friends

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Last night I meet up with Joe, Karen, John, Jay, & Gretchen. It has been almost a year since I saw Karen last and probibly 2-3 years since I last saw Joe.

We meet up at a bar called the Galaway Hooker. John suggested it since it was close for Joe, Karen, Jay & Gretchen. Surprisingly I had actually been there before but didn’t’ realize it until i walked upstairs. We ate and had a few drinks before taking off. It was way too loud for our tastes. We ended up going to a lounge down the block that was quieter where we hung out for several more hours talking and drinking. Overall I had a great time and I think everyone else did too. I found out later that John had to spend a ton of money getting home since it was so late and the train schedule was really bad.

I for one walked out of the bar and hailed a cab. I was home in 15 minutes. It cost like $14 for the cab and tunnel toll but getting home from the east side for me can be really easy sometimes. I was happy to be able to just pass out. I did not keep to my 2 drink self imposed maximum last night, but i was with friends I hadn’t seen in ages so I made an exception!

Passport

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I was surprised to find my new passport waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home today. My old one expired earlier this month. I sent it in with renewal paperwork and had expected the worst and wasn’t thinking I was getting the new one till the end of June. I don’t have anywhere planned I was going but it is always nice I can go! I am still waiting for the wallet sized passport ID card that I paid extra for. Hopefully that was supposed to come in a separate envelope, because I don’t want to think about the hoops i have to go through if it is lost!

My picture on this passport is a slight improvement over my last one. I think I look less like a cab driver in this one, so I am happy!

New & Old Passport

Relax and Do Nothing Holiday

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I decided to just hang out and do nothing this holiday. Having plans Saturday & Sunday made it an easy choice for me. I was glad to finally be able to sleep last night. Friday & Saturday nights I got called around midnight with issues from work so that threw off my sleep.

Nothing really eventful happened. I cleaned up my place, hung out, and did laundry. I know, really exciting way to spend the holiday, but I was happy with it, so I guess that makes it ok.

Dinner With Mom And Dad

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Tonight my parents came over to my neighborhood for dinner. They don’t do that often enough so I was happy to have them over. Well over in the figurative sense since we went out for dinner and they didn’t actually come up to my apartment. We went to Lounge 47 for dinner. I had been there a few times and liked it. The positive Yelp reviews sealed the deal. Overall had a good time.

I also got some chocolate and Scotch my mom brought back from her trip to Europe last week. I was very happy with my bottle of MaCallan 18 year old single malt. It was very smooth. I think I liked it better than the Johnny Walker Blue, and it is half the price!

Mmm BBQ

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Today I went up to Jayson & Gretchen’s for a Memorial Day BBQ. The weather was iffy but besides a bit of rain it turned out ok. We got to BBQ, drink, play poker (even if it wasn’t for money) and just hang out. John & Dave and others were there. it was fun. I took the train up in the early afternoon. Hung out for lunch/dinner and then got a ride home with John.

Overall it was the perfect Memorial Day BBQ if you ask me. Even the rain wasn’t so bad. The overcast skies kept the weather cool so it was not too hot out!

Drinks After Work

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I meet up with Danny, Anthony and a few unnamed (because I cannot recall their names) others after work today. We meet up at a bar near union square. I was good and kept to my 2 drink limit since I have to get up early tomorrow for the BBQ upstate. I haven’t seen Anthony in a while so it was nice to catch up. I got my fill of old company gossip, and then headed home.

I worked from home today. I thought I would have some time to get some work done, but for some reason the meetings piled up. It was a busy day even though it was a Friday!

Work Drinks

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After work today meet up near time square with a bunch of people from work. One of the NY based guys is moving (not leaving the company but moving out of the city) so there was a get together to wish him well. It is funny I probably talk to this guy more often than I see him anyway so for me if he is on the phone a mile a way or 500 miles away it doesn’t really matter I guess.

I had a good time. I meet a bunch of people I never meet before (some of them I may have spoken on the phone or email but never in person) and got to see others that I don’t see too often. For that it was really fun. I was amazed that I was one of the last 3 people to leave, but I also had the shortest trip to travel home so I wasn’t complaining.

Meet Up With Friends

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Today after work I headed into the city to Blaggards to meet up with friends. Yes headed into the city is what I said. I was working from home so it is always kind of odd to go into Manhattan to meet up with people after work when I am already home. Meet up with Mike, Luke, and others. I had a good time, but it is always fun hanging out with those guys.

Thankfully an otherwise uneventful day at work.