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Beer Garden Sunday

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Went to the beer garden again today. I got permission to not goto the beach for my mom’s actual birthday (by her) so I went to the garden when Jay and John called. We had a good time again. We ate sausage, drank (one drink for me since I was not recovered from friday), played cards and hung out. I decided you have a gambling problem when you play poker with rocks when you have no money to play with.

After poker we all played Spades. I haven’t played in years. John showed Jay and Gretchen how to play. We now have a cool hang out and drink card game for no money. I mean if we want to bet we will play holdum. Not sure how exactly to spell it.

I was late for dinner with my family, but so were they. We had a decent meal at a japanese restaurant near my sisters house.

the only other thing to note about today was that I may have destroyed a brand new shirt by getting stuck between the doors on an E train. I had black marks up and down my arm and the sleeve. It was nasty, but I made the train. It was worth it:)

The Beer Garden

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I went to the last Beer Garden in NYC yesterday. John, Zee, Dave, a friend of Johns (forget his name all the time) and I went over to Astoria for the good food and nice alcohol. it was the perfect day for hanging out in the shade while drinking and doing not much of anything else.

We picked out a picnic table in the shade and hung out for hours. The sausage was fantastic. The drinks were cheap (for NYC). We were buying huge pitchers of good beer for $12. I was able to have my Jack & Cokes for $4. We had a good time.

I was so stuffed when I left. I just love BBQ. I couldn’t pass up some sausage and then cheese burgers. We were there for like 5 hours. We had to eat!

It was a great day to be outside!!!

Canceled Plans

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I had plans to hang out with my friends Rich & Amanda today. That was until Amanda sprained her foot last night. She was in pain and not up for doing anything. It was a bummer for me, but I ended up doing some work instead. Work you say on a holiday weekend? I actually like getting work done on the weekends, since I can do it in piece and quiet. I get the stuff that I know I need to do but can’t do it during the week.

Tomorrow I have plans to hang out with John, & Dave. Not sure if Jay & Gretchen will join us or not, but you never know.

Hooky

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I played hooky from work today, well sort of. I had an early conference call so I did it from home. then it was do a bit of work from home. Then it was the AC wasn’t working again and it was hot, the day before a holiday weekend, so I decided to take the day. After work I went with Jay, & Danny to see War of the Worlds. I hated it. It had good effects, but I hated it everything else about the movie. I compare it to independence day, and that at least had some decent story. This movie was just bad. But it doesn’t matter since it will make millions, and Tom Cruise will continue to be crazy…

I also hit Macy’s for some shorts. it is shaping up to be a hot one at work, so I need comfy clothing that will allow me to say sane. The lines weren’t too bad, so I was happy.

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White Castle Sunday

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Sunday I bummed around the house most of the day. it was hot, I was still tired from vegas jet lag. Jayson didn’t need me to help move (thankfully). I went over to the new place in the evening to check it out. We ended up going to White Castle for dinner. I don’t have much “fast food” anymore so it was good. I ate the same amount of meat that both Jay and Gretchen ate combined. Not sure how I did it, but I was full afterward. I could barely walk the subway steps because I was so full. But it was good, so every once in a while it is ok to go crazy!

Their new place is allot bigger than the old one, but it is in Queens. I am over living in Queens. I am all about the easy manhattan commute and living (for now).

Spa Day

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I had time in the late morning so I got a spa appointment. I like a good Swedish massage. A real one, not one with a “happy ending” like everyone joked with me about this week. My back gets messed up sometimes, so it is good to loosen things up. I need to go more often. A bit of steam room action (inaction), a shower and a shave and I felt awesome for my flight home.

Whenever I hit Vegas I like to do at least one day at the spa. It is relaxing, especially before a 4 1/2 hour flight home. Now back to waiting for said flight to board!

Convention Close

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Thursday was the last day of the convention. I missed one of the seminars I wanted to hit, and part of another to deal with a problem at work. I did learn a ton about DNS, and some other Cisco security tools at the seminars I made it to. Some of this stuff is so fascinating.

I hit the pool in the late afternoon. I didn’t get much sun. it was too hot. I ended up by the cafe by the pool for a quick snack, and some reading. it was very relaxing.

Thursday night we had the big Cisco convention party. It was cool. They rented out several rooms and the pool at the Palms. Hung out there with Joe for a while. We even played Halo. They were having a contest. Yes, Xbox at a convention party. it was a Cisco party!!! A bunch of tech guys and you need some sort of game. Joe was killing everyone we played. I was just getting killed. The top 18 players of the night (by highest stats of each 5 minute game played) would win an Xbox. When we left halfway through the party Joe had about 8 of the 16 slots taken up, so he should win a new Xbox to go allong with his other 2 that he has.

We met up with Karen at the Paris, and hung out at the lounge. This is where Jayson and Gretchen got really drunk at after their wedding (or so I am told). We had a few rounds and then we all went off to bed.

A Good Steak

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Wednesday night I went to a meet and greet for Cisco people interested in (or using) IPCC. I met some cool high level tech guys on the team from Cisco, the product manager, etc. I also had some important questions answered for me.

I met up with Pankaj, and we cut out of the meet and greet and hit Morton’s for dinner. I love a good steak. I also love a good steak 2 nights in a row. We had a few drinks waiting for some other people we were meeting up with. It was a good time. I even got to try the Godiva desert I missed the last time I was at Morton’s with Alison. It was fantastic.

I ended up back at the Paris and met up with Joe, Karen and Joe’s folks for drinks at the lounge. I didn’t drink more (i was pretty well off from the Morton’s alcohol) but I hung out with them for a while.

After Hours (for me) In Vegas

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For dinner tonight I ended up back at the Paris to meet my friend Sean & his wife Kelly for dinner. I have mentioned Sean before (sunday for starters) but I don’t know if I every gave any history on him and Kelly. I went to college with Sean, and whenever I goto vegas it is good to see him. Don’t know Kelly as well as Sean, but she is really cool. We went to this french resteraunt in the Paris (go figure) that she likes. We all had fantastic steaks. All the deserts were also great. I had this flowerless chocolate cake. It was pricey, but good. I am now wired on the cappichino that I had. I almost never get desert, and even less frequently do I get coffee. And no I cannot spell Cappichino, and I hacked it so bad that the spell checker can’t even make a suggestion.

I had a great time, and I think they had fun too. We had to cut the night short since Kellys mom was watching their baby and had to get up early tomorrow. We might hook up again this week, but my schedule is getting kind of tight. I am supposed to do this user conferece and meet up with a Cisco engineer that I know for dinner tomorrow. Then thursday is the big closing party.

I made my spa appointment for friday. I decided that I am taking my poker winnings from last week and I am going to the spa. I will relax in the morning and early afternoon and then go right to the airport for my flight home. Hopefully the day will be as nice as I have planned it to be.

Still Recovering

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I thought I had recovered from my reverse (nights awake, days sleeping) schedule of last week. That was until I had to stay up late again monday night. My body clock is all screwed up. I can’t goto sleep, but then I can’t get up in the morning. Just cant win this week. For that reason and because I have had a crazy week at work I haven’t written much. I am just tired. I need to get ready for my trip to Vegas next week. I haven’t even seen if I have my luggage or if I lent it to my parents. I realized this weekend that my flight is early on Fathers Day. that means I don’t get to see dad. Of course that also means he doesn’t need to pay for me when he takes everyone out to dinner that night!