Friends

All I Did For My Birthday is Go To The Grocery Store

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Yes, you read that correctly: the main activity for my birthday was a trip to a grocery store called Omega Mart.

So while the title is technically true, it needs some context. For a milestone birthday (let’s leave the number out of this), we planned a long weekend in Las Vegas. Hopefully, I’ll write more about that trip later. Including M and myself, there were about eight of us. I had a pretty solid plan for the evenings—this is Vegas, after all. Plenty of speakeasies for good cocktails and amazing food. But I hadn’t put much thought into daytime activities for our few days there.

While running through ideas with a friend who’s been living in Vegas since college, he suggested Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart. I had no clue what it was, but the group was up for it. The group we had in total was eight people, though our numbers shifted throughout the weekend as some people arrived early and left early, while others came later and stayed longer. Initially, we planned to visit Omega Mart the day before my birthday with 6 of us that was there, but between scheduling issues and a downpour, we couldn’t make it. Thankfully, one of my friends managed to reschedule usfor the next day, which worked out well because two friends who were arriving that night could join us, too. That made it a full house.

On the day, I discovered that Omega Mart is… a supermarket disguised as an interactive art exhibit. Or maybe it’s an interactive art exhibit disguised as a supermarket? I’m still not sure. After spending hours there, I’m not entirely certain of much about Omega Mart.

Omega Mart is located in a warehouse-like complex called Area15. You enter the store as you would any regular grocery store. There are aisles stocked with products you can actually buy—each one weirder than the last. I wanted to take home half of them! (See photos for some truly bizarre examples.) After a few minutes of browsing the aisles, I was really enjoying myself, and then things got weird—in the best way possible. I noticed a hidden passageway through one of the freezer doors. A friend suggested waiting until everyone was ready before going in, but after a minute or two, my curiosity got the better of me, and I went in anyway.

What awaited us on the other side felt like stepping into another universe. I think that’s actually how they describe it. Almost on cue, a friend who we were waiting for outside in the freezer aisle wandered in from a different passageway, saying, “Oh, you found this place too!” Glad we didn’t wait for them!

We spent the next few hours exploring this alternate universe, with the occasional detour back to the grocery store. Everyone had a blast. What I didn’t realise at the time was that there were interactive storylines and mysteries woven throughout the place. One of my friends texted his teenage son about it, and his son immediately told us to check out the freezer. Apparently, he was already familiar with Omega Mart. Until two days prior, I had no idea this place even existed.

Honestly, describing the alternate universe we explored is hard to do justice here. I recommend checking out their website and reading some reviews. I’ll post a few photos, but it was visually captivating enough that I wouldn’t hesitate to return if I were in Vegas again.

When we’d seen enough, we exited Omega Mart and headed to a bar in the middle of Area15, right by Omega Mart’s entrance. I ordered an old-fashioned, smoked right in front of me, while a friend ordered some crazy drink that was lit on fire and bubbled up with a massive bubble before he drank it. Yes, we took several photos and videos—it was awesome.

We did other things too. Before Omega Mart, we had a fantastic dim sum lunch. Later that evening, we went for an amazing steak dinner. Living in London while most of my friends live around New York, I was genuinely touched that so many made the effort to come out and celebrate with me.

If you asked me to describe my perfect birthday, it probably wouldn’t have included a place like Omega Mart. And yet, I had a fantastic time. A solid reminder to always keep an open mind!

Drinks With Rich at The Station House

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Even though I was feeling sick earlier in the week I was hoping I was up for making it out for dinner/drinks with Rich.  His wife told me he would be solo this weekend since she was going away with the kids.  It was a perfect time for him and I to meet up.  Once I realized I was still up for meeting up we settled on a new place in the neighborhood to try out.  The Station House menu looked good so out of the several new places we looked at we decided to check it out.

We haven’t hung out in months so it was good to get together and just have a drink and grab some food.  I stuck with my typical Jack and coke.  Even though their menu was very interesting I opted for a burger.  I have been dieting so a good bacon cheeseburger was a nice splurge.  I also tried the fried snickers desert.  It was not as good as I thought it would be but the burger was very good.

Tuesday, August 28

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I think I’m going back to using the date as the title of blog posts instead of coming up with snappy subjects for each regular day I write about.

Today was the first day are cleaning has been here since late July. I think she took some vacation time and also was resting from minor injury. We were glad that she’s back. Her arrival meant I had to leave for work early. I had a lot to do anyway.

I know I have an awesome wife when her best friend is going to be in town and she says I might be busy Saturday night because it’s the premiere of Dr. Who. I didn’t think of that and of course I’m available see her friend. I just thought it was hysterical that she would think that I would want to bail out for TV. It was very sweet though.

On the plus side one of MC’s best friend that lives in DC is going to be in New York this weekend. We will hopefully get to see her for brunch one day.

This evening was pretty low-key. I need to get up early for a meeting at 6 AM going to bed early. The rest of the night was taken up with a little bit of TV, and calling some perspective nannies.

Atlantic City Weekend

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This weekend Jason, John, Phil, and I went to Atlantic City to celebrate John’s birthday. I personally haven’t been to Atlantic City that often. is actually my third time going. The last time was actually for John special party. Jason or John I can remember Alan that New Jersey transit has a train that goes directly to Atlantic City. The Atlantic city express service or a ACES was pretty cool. All us decided to take the train and we went first class since it wasn’t on the former. The train was basically a modified New Jersey transit double-decker train that makes one stop in Newark and then goes express all the way AC. We got there in the afternoon played a little then grab dinner at the same restaurant that Sean has battled party at since he liked it. Our plans to do a torment got messed up since dinner took way too long we had a good time.

after dinner. After dinner we ended up playing at the hotel we’re staying at. Jason played slots most of the night. I played video poker and some slots with him. Then I play roulette with John and Phil for a while and now my own. I decided one I won by betting on 21 straight up that was probably a good idea to stop. At that exact point several peoples who are smoking decided to sit down, and I almost made my money back. So in the end mice travel costs food the hotel etc. I was only down $15 gambling. The good news when I was after several hours of flying, so for me I consider that money well spent on entertainment area

Jason John and I ended up at a 24-hour diner for dessert word breakfast depending on who you talk to before we ended up turning in around one or two. We got up early the next morning had breakfast since we had a relatively early train to catch. I was actually very happy with the train service especially since I was home by 2 PM.

Overall it was a great weekend away.

Long Travel Day

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Today I went up to see Gretchen, Jayson, and baby Seth. It was a nice, if not short visit. I took the train up in the late morning and everyone met me at the station. We grabbed a quick lunch (including Seth) at a local pub/restaurant. Then we went back to their house to hang out. It was nice so we went into the pool. It was Seth’s first trip in the water. He seemed to like it. We hung out there for a while and then just relaxed at the house. It was a nice leisurely day with friends in the country.

I headed back early to goto a birthday party for my friend Luke. Typically the trip to Poughkeepsie is long enough to warrant staying over, but the last few times I have had plans. This time I should have stayed. I decided to spend the few extra bucks for an Amtrak train to Penn since the party was 2 blocks from Penn. Metro North would have required an additional two subway trains. Well Amtrak decided to not cooperate and the train was an hour and forty minutes late. The bad luck was that I just missed the previous Metro North train so I had to wait another 40 minutes for the next train.

By the time I got into Manhattan it was late and I was on the wrong side of the city. After prodding by Danny & Luke I said to heck with it and just went home. I was tired from the long day and I didn’t really want to trek over to the west side for a little while with people who were obviously drinking a decent amount.

What saved me from going insane was the mobile amtrak site, my iphone and my HP Mini Netbook I used on the train to watch movies.

Dinner And a Wedding With Far Away Friends

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This weekend was my friend’s Joe & Karen’s wedding. I know Joe from my time working and living in Baton Rouge. I know Karen since she went to the same High School as I and we have the same group of friends we kept in touch with after school. As an aside I find it interesting I hang out with Karen now, but didn’t know her at all when I actually was in HS. That is true for a few of the friends I know from back then. Ok back to the story. One of my other friends John introduced both of them to each other when he was living down in BTR. And now they got married. Karen moved down south a few years ago to be with Joe, but they decided to come back to NYC to have the wedding.

Friday night there was a rehearsal dinner of sorts, but in reality it was just friends and family getting together for dinner. We went to City Crab. On a previous trip to NYC a bunch of us took the couple their (I had to be reminded that since i was like hey we are going to city crab i love that place when they told me the venue, and couldn’t figure out why they chose that location) so we went back. I had the surf and turf. Filet and Crab Legs. It was fantastic. Afterwards a bunch of guys went out for a mini bachelor party. We were going to do that Thursday but Jayson couldn’t get out on Thursday so we pushed to Friday. Gretchen did just have a baby on Sunday! We had a good time, and that is allt he details on that subject.

Jayson ended up crashing at my place instead of having to pay for a hotel. We got up today and hung out by my place for a while before heading into the city for the wedding. There may be another post on the shopping spree we went on. We meet up with Scott (yes another one) and went over to the hotel where the wedding was.

The ceremony was nice on a deck at the top of the hotel. We just missed the rain so it was perfect timing. John actually showed up. That was a pleasant surprise since no one expected him. His wife also just had a baby so he wasn’t sure if he could get out. He did. It was a fun wedding. I even danced a bit, but not much. It was relatively small, but I don’t like huge parties.

I grabbed a ride home from John after the festivities were over. Overall it was a great weekend.

Around NYC With Out of Towners

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Yesterday I got a call late from my friend Joe. He is in from Baton Rouge (or nearby BTR to be exact) for his wedding. His local friends and family flew in a few days early. He gave me a call to find somewhere interesting to do. I ended up meeting up with him and his friends at his hotel. We headed out to Little Italy for some dinner at my favorite italian place on Mulberry Street. We then headed to Union Square for a round of drinks at Heartland. We were going to head to some other pubs but Karen called and we meet her and some of her friends at a bar we went to back in May near their hotel. We hung out there for a while and then everyone headed home. it was a fun night. I met allot of Joe’s friends for the first time. I will be hanging with them tonight for dinner and at the wedding tomorrow.

I grabbed a cab home and thankfully it only took me 10 minutes to get from the east side to my apartment. I decided last time I was out with Joe & Karen that I will pay the extra money for use of the Tunnel to get home, vs the 59th Street bridge. it is so much faster, especially at night. I didn’t get home till 2AM, so I am glad I took today off.

Dodging Rain

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I worked from home today. The day could have gone either way. I could have had a few meetings (that was what my schedule said) so I could get some backlogged work done, or things would come up throughout the day that would distract me from what I was aiming to do. The latter happened as I expected but hoped wouldn’t. I didn’t even realize what time it was when I called it a day and aimed to meet up with friends.

I headed into the city to meet up with some friends at Blaggards. Turned out no one showed up. Stanley texted me saying he was taking off sine no one else showed up. I was in the subway so I didn’t see it until I got there. Everyone was last minute cancelations, except Luke who I hadn’t heard from. Since I was already in the area I went to Macy’s and did some shopping. From there I headed over to the Apple Store on 5th ave.

As I got out of the subway by the Apple Store I started raining. It looked like a major thunder storm was coming in. I ran to the store just in time. I bought a iPod Nano 8GB (silver if you are curious) and an arm band to use it when exercising. Yes, I bought a new nano so I could actually try to do that exercise thing people keep talking about. It is kind of redundant to have since I have an iPhone and a 160gb iPod but each device has its own uses. The 160gb pod is currently being used as a portable hard drive and like the phone is to big for use when working out.

Before buying the pod, I browsed around to kill time while it rained. By the time I got out of the store it was raining a bit but not as bad as it was. The sky was really dark for just after 6 on a Summer afternoon. I got home and it was still only raining a bit but it looked like it was going to pour again anytime. I got really lucky getting home without an umbrella. At one point in my trek home I could have bought one (those guys selling umbrella’s know exactly where to position themselves) but I rolled the dice and made it home only slightly damp.

I ordered in and just watched some shows I had on my Tivo. I wasn’t in the mood to head back out.

Baby Watch 2009

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As odd luck would have it my sister and one of my best friends are both expecting new babies this week. My sister is off tomorrow morning to have the baby (its planned), and my friends wife is going to be induced by the end of the week if theirs doesn’t show up. Hopefully if all goes well I will be an uncle again tomorrow by lunch time. All I had to do was not drive my sister crazy!

The big dilemma for me is what to get as a baby gift. The stuffed animal collection I liked to get from FAO apparently discontinued the middle sized option that I got for my Niece & Nephew. I don’t want to risk going with the really huge one, but the small one is kinda small. What is an uncle to be to do? I will buy the customary bottle of liquor. Yes a baby needs a nice bottle of scotch. Well, the plan for that is to get one the day they are born and give it to them when they turn 21. I got the idea from my dad when the toast at my Bar Mitzvah was using the same bottle that my great uncle gave to my parents and they toasted at my Bris. Since that gift is not really functional for a two decades I need something more current. I am going to have to scour the internet tomorrow for something suitable. I am not sure when I can get out to see the new little one. Apparently most if not all family is banned for the first week so they can all settle in, but after that I am not sure.

As for my friend, I also await word when the time comes. As of this morning it the little guy can’t come fast enough but he is taking his time.

Friday Travel Day

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Friday was a bit hectic for me. I went to the NJ office where most of my team is. I was going with a new Project Manager, and two other people from the mid town office who work on the same project. One guy was new, one never met the rest of the team and the other hadn’t seen everyone in almost a year so it was nice getting everyone together to talk. We spent over 3 hours going over stuff. It went really well. We all then went out for lunch after the visitors got a tour of the facility. Those tours never get old for me.

The downside of the travel day was I was only in front of my computer for about an hour and that was in a conference room for a meeting going over a spread sheet. I was only able to read and respond to a few of the many emails I received this week. Since I am going to my sisters tonight I won’t be able to try to catch up from my backlog until Monday!

Because of the tour and lunch we didn’t head back to the city till almost 3. By the time we got to mid town it was well after 4. I ended up going home and finished up some work there before going out to meet up with friends for drinks. I was delayed in getting out because I waited to sync up my new iPhone 3GS before I left. It arrived in the mail while I was out during the day.

Drinks were cool. Meet up with Luke, Stanley, & Danny to name a few. I didn’t stay out too late so I was happy! All in all a busy and productive day.