Houston

Nothing clever or long on this blog, since it's bedtime here in the heart of Texas. Just random observations about this week's travel to Houston...

• The infrastructure around the city itself is probably the best I've ever seen for a city of any decent size. It's like they knew to have wide roads and plenty of extra space for ramps, HOV lanes, even tolls, way before anyone else. That, or their civil engineering is vastly superior to the rest of the country. Name one large city that doesn't seem to have pretty much outgrown its highways. I'd throw Houston up there as the first one I've ever seen.
  
• Speaking of tolls, this place has a beltway and a couple of spurs in/out of the city that are pay roads. Put it like this - it's worse than the Garden State Parkway when it comes to the frequency and amount of the tolls. I guess I know how they pay for all those infrastructure improvements.
  
• I skipped a Springsteen concert to do work and eat Mexican food; weak, I know. I must be getting older and more mature, or something like that. I just had waaaaay too much shit to do this week (channeling my inner Lehman) and I have another chance to go see him in Chicago I think. Besides, it wasn't just Mexican food - this stuff was KILLER. If you're ever down here, do yourself a favor and go to Lupe Tortilla. There's a good chance if I ever lived here I'd be there 3x a week.
  
• Something about Houston appealed to me... so far it's been the most pleasant surprise of my trips. Truth is, my work travel hasn't been very glamorous... they don't exactly put trash companies in Beverly Hills. Other than the 2nd half of the first week in LA, it's been fairly nondescript, and nothing about Detroit, Dallas (other than the absurd enormity of the new Cowboys Stadium), or LA made me ever think I'd want to live in any of those places. Yes, LA was nice, but all that great weather (ok, so so weather) and beautiful views come with the price of the 2nd biggest city in America and all the negatives that come with it - traffic, crime, an overly frantic pace, and specifically dealing with all the issues of a big city without many of the benefits (like the relative ease in getting around in cities like Philly, Boston, and NYC once you're actually in the city itself). It's like LA is one big sprawling quasi-suburb. Anyways, the point to all this is that Houston seems to have a heck of a lot going for it - plenty of commerce, lots of space, proximity to a shoreline (from downtown Houston to Galveston is actually closer than Philly to AC), good food, seemingly very nice Texas folk... all in all, I saw a lot of good things here, compared to very few drawbacks. I'm not planning on packing up the Jeep anytime soon, but if I ever had to make another move, Houston would definitely be on the "Acceptable Cities" list.
  
• I had four presentations/training classes this week, and something went wrong in each and every one of them, and all four of them were completely beyond my control. It makes for a frustrating week when planes are delayed, accounts are locked, PCs aren't imaged right, and power cords aren't shipped, but it ended up working out in the end. If that's all I have to complain about (it's not, but still) then things really aren't that bad at all.
• Not Houston related but I've been an uncle for all of 7 days now and love it. This is like all the benefits of having a child you love and care about, without the actual responsibility of caring for said child on a consistent basis. I like it. Go ahead J&T, have another!!
  
• There's probably more but I am tired and need to hit bed, so until I remember something else, that's all for now - off to Orlando, then Indian Rocks Beach, and FINALLY back to Ft. Lauderdale after a(nother) ten day hiatus.
  

More Tyler Jason

Spent a great weekend up in NJ with the newest parents of the Sharpe family and their little addition. Due to Southwest f*cking up our standby list and some lousy weather up north, we ended up missing the visitor hours at the hospital on Friday night, but got plenty of time with the little guy, and Trace and Jay. We got two trips to West Jersey Hospital, and still managed to give them some time alone Saturday night. (Conveniently, the end of visiting hours happened to coincide with the beginning of the Nova-UNC game) So two trips to see baby Tyler, along with Sean, Lis, and their kids coming by for the game, gave Jen and I quite a "preview of coming attractions"... when the attractions come is still TBD, although if the inquirey level of the thre F's (family, friends, and Facebook) played any part, it would be soon. It was really special to be with Jay and Trace, watching them take care of their little swaddled package, feeding him, cuddling, even doing the glamourless stuff like burpng and changing diapers. Jason's done a great job taking care of Ty while Tracey is resting up - her labor and delivery lasted pretty long and took a lot out of her (literally!) so he's done a great job of being Mr. Mom for the first few days. They are home now, they got home on Sunday afternoon, and everything at their house is set up. Jen and I are both pretty excited to be Aunt Jen and Uncle T.J., and are already looking forward to our next trip up there. He's pretty adorable, even taking out my Godfather bias. It was definetly tough to leave the little bugger.

Nova got killed but UNC was a beast, so I feel less lousy about it now after they dismantled Michigan State. The thing was they got within 5 in the second half... "what if" they hadn't missed all those freaking 3's, etc... Ahh what can you do - thanks for the run Scottie, Dante, and Co. It was worth it. The Phils on the other hand had the magic of the 2008 WFC last all of a few at bats on Sunday. Not to worry... there's plenty of time to give the Mets time to pad this year's September collapse.

(insert your favorite LA song title/lyric here)

Since there's so many that I can't pick just one, I'll leave it up to everyone else to come up with suggestions.

Jen came to LA for the weekend. Surprise, it was non-stop. First, a drive up the PCH and then happy hour at Duke's, on the water in Malibu. Her friends on Friday night. My college buddies in Newport on Saturday. High school friends in Seal Beach on Sunday (happy birthday Hogan, ye olde bastarde) and back to Hermosa on Sunday to hang with Sari for a bit on Sunday before she left. Luckily, I had been there drunk before with Lefever and Pritts, so we made our way to Yankee Doodle (after the Santa Monica pier, which apparently has replaced Tijuana as the immigration port of choice on the Pacific coast) after chilling out on the bluffs over PCH in Santa monica, see the pics Jen posted about the sunset for what you missed. (washers champion, March 2005, same grassy knoll, where I wiped up the aforementioned Cornell homos)

Anyways, we did have our "moment" - I've been travelling a ton, 5 of the last 6 weeks out of town, and it takes a small toll on our relationship when we're apart for a week at a time, several times in a row. So as we walk out onto 3rd st. or whatever that place is with the bars and sidewalk freaks... the guy at the keyboard starts playing "Just the Way You Are" - our wedding song. It was a great way to close a long weekend, and a long time apart. LA - we had a blast, and there was plenty of great things to see, and friends to meet up with, but we'll take south FL any time, and invite you all to stay.

Other random stuff...

• Facebook is Multi Level Marketing at a social level. And it's one of the most popular things in America right now. No wonder we're in a complete recession. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to update my status mobily and see what new friends I might have throught the "Friends you might know".
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9zItgB9PrA&NR=1 I could watch Jay and Silent Bob all day.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvcTsOEFQgk start at 4:00 if you want the whole intro to Dogma, or just hit 9:10 and look for the guy with the horns, CMU's finest and my own little brother Gio. Always great work, my friend.
• I think you can watch Dogma through the entire clip in 10 minute intervals... here goes nothing...
  

Life in LA

Out in LA for two weeks for work. The West Coast is definitely... different. It's only been a few days, so it's not like I have a huge sample here (especially since I spend my time mostly at trash companies), but for every + for the wesssside, there seems to be a corresponding minus. Fantastic views of mountains and hills and ocean? Check. Miserable traffic and construction? Counter-check. Cool beach atmosphere? Check. 30-year-old roads with potholes every 20 feet? Counter-check. Lots of people I know out here? Check. Lots and LOTS of people I don't know, everywhere. Counter-check. In-N-Out Burger? Check. Rapidly expanding waistline? Counter-check.

The craziest thing to me was that I got to dine in Compton, CA, this afternoon. OK, "dine" isn't the right description - "head through the drive through and get the heck out of there" is more accurate. Bizarelly, though, what I saw of Compton wasn't anything like what Ice Cube used to write about. If you showed me pictures and asked me to name the city, there's no way in HELL I would have ever come up with "Compton, CA". Granted, it's not like I did a lot of sightseeing, but the part I did see had new strip malls, a Starbucks, houses in decent shape with yards and fences and all the rest of what you'd expect to see in Suburbia. There's quite a few places in the Fort Lauderdale area that at least appear to be in much worse shape. Bizarre.

The good thing I'm able to see some friends out here - last night it was a pitcher (or a few) with Barnicle and his wife Brenda. Later on this weekend, it'll be Goldi, Avi, Dirty Ray, Pat Hogan, Carmen, Schmitko... the list goes on. And Jen - who is about to land at LAX, so time to wrap this up - also has a list of people to make sure we get in touch with. We'll get some pics from the trip down to "the OC" this weekend.

Goodbye (for 40 days) to Fried Foods and Smart-ass Comments

Your Ash Wednesday Update...
For Lenty this year, we're sacrificing a couple things I am better off without: eating anything fried, and making smart-ass comments, especially to my wife. Anyone who knows me knows this might be the most difficult Lent sacrifice yet, and I'm not talking about the KFC. (I did make sure to call - and wake her up - last night to get one more line in before midnight). This is going to be tougher than giving up pizza in Hoboken that one year, or cursing another year, or kissing girls other than my then-girlfriend in college back in... eh, let's just move on. Anyways, being Ash Wednesday, and being on the road for work (in beef-happy Dallas, of all places), and having 15 minutes to find lunch that has no meat and nothing fried, it was a rough start, but a Subway Tuna Hoagie bailed me out. I even passed on the Baked Lays - just in case there's a little false advertising going on there. (Side note - when, oh when, will WaWa go nationwide so I'll be able to go to the Peter Luger's of convenience stores??)

It's not like Jen helps matters... I'll leave out details, but we'll just say there was only one person with a bag of ice on their leg at Fred and Doreen's engagement party. And that is just the tip of the iceberg... but I'm treading on thin ice here with the blog, so I'll let it go (for now, or until another good story comes out this spring).

Time for bed, traveling pretty much non-stop since 2/7 finally took its toll on me - Philly, then Arizona, then home for a weekend, now back in Dallas - and I was sick earlier this week, so it's one more full day here, then catch-up as February ends. See you on Easter Saturday at 11:59pm with a tub of Tater Tots, some Doritos, Southport's Fried Fish Combo, and a few (but not many!) comments for the lovely wife. :)

Hot Air In Phoenix

I surprised TJ with the hot air balloon when we were in Phoenix this past weekend. It was SO awesome, we had the best time.

ANYWAY, on our "descent" in the hot air balloon, we were really low going over people's houses, I mean really low, I thought we were going to hit some roofs. So I'm looking out and i have my camera ready, and I see this guy walking around his backyard totally naked!! (his backyard was fenced in, of course!)

So I am like "OH MY GOD!" And we are so low he hears me, and he yells "OH MY GOD!" When he sees the hot air balloon over him with 7 people staring at him. He took off running inside his house so most of the hot air balloon people only saw his jiggly butt as he was cupping his goods and running in the house. Seconds later his "friend" came outside, in a robe, giving us the evil stare. It was so funny! :)

Our pilot on the hot air balloon said he sees boobies all the time, but this was a first for a wee wee.

It's February, T.J.'s Traveling, Steeler Luck, and Random Stuff

If you live in any of the following cities and I haven't gotten in touch with you, email me, cause Sharpie's coming to town: Dallas, LA, Houston, Atlanta, and Chicago. I've got to find someone in Houston - it's the only place I don't know anyone, and it'll put me behind Goldi and CHab in the "You Know Someone EVERYWHERE!" race. There's got to be some CMU dork or some relocated South Jerseyian there, although most likely it'll be someone with the hazily vague title "Used to drink with them". Step up, all locations, I'm making good use of my time away from house repairs on Republic's dime, although one week into it and my diet is already suffering pretty badly.


Read on TMQ this week, and unnoticed on the blown-call (clip of Tim Hightower), questionable-spot (crossing the goal line) INT TD by James Harrison at the end of the 1st Half of the Super Bowl: Larry Fitzgerald could have, and probably would have, caught Harrison 10 yards from the goal lins... if Antrel Rolle - Go figure, a U of Miami "graduate" - doesn't INTERFERE with his own player on the sidelines!! Watch around :27, and you'll see both the clip and a DB costing his team 7 points, and possibly the Super Bowl. And enjoy the gay music you stiller fans.


My favorite line of the holiday, from my lovely wife looking at a slightly fuller moon than she saw 24 hours previously - "is that the same moon as last night?"

Detroit... this economy and job market is hitting everyone tough, but man, the Motor City is just downright depressing. I got to spend 5 days there, and the whole area seems just dejected. Unemployment is high - closing in on 10%. The roads have more potholes than Baghdad Blvd. The city - at least the parts that house trash companies - are in disrepair. Hey at least they have nice stadiums though! The Palace at Auburn Hills was pretty sweet, we got some tickets from the local Republic guy, so Pfeif and Lori made the hike up from Curtice for that one. Plus, with all the nice Midwestern drivers, I was able to get us out of the parking lot in about 4 minutes by cutting across parked cars.

Even the food, an eclectic mix, doesn't stand out for anything special. On the weekly internet radio show I'm doing on occasion, I spotlight an NFL city for their tailgate/cooking and give a local-inspired recipe. Thank God I never had to do Detroit, I'd have no idea what to do - maybe Ribs 'n 40's. The pervasive food is "Coneys", basically hot dog shops/grills with varying degrees of food and price. I can understand stealing a signature item of another city to put on your memu - Philly cheesesteaks, Memphis BBQ, Cincinnati chili, etc... - but when the most popular eatery type is based on a city island 600 miles away, well, it just adds to the grey cloud sitting over the region.


Random thought - I might be in the minority here, but prime rib can't hold a candle to a good porterhouse or filet. Maybe it's because it's a rare meat aversion, or having to cut around multiple layers of gristle, or having to dip it into something for more taste.

MORE RANDOM LINKS

Ahhhh, Mets Fans... (from the700level.com) If you don't want to sit through all 9 minutes of hilarity then just fast forward to about the 7 minute mark. What a douche. Then again, he's a Mets fan.

Awesome - the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

I must be getting better looking - http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080911/lf_nm_life/miami_dc_1

The recession is hitting a lot of people, but damn, this is tough.

Random observations:

• I always knew Jen had the propensity to “debate” with others (mostly me), but even I got caught by surprise when we called our credit card company to dispute an APR raise – and she started arguing with the customer service rep AFTER they had agreed they messed up and changed our rate back. Josephine would have been proud… I can't talk much though, I had to phone into Delta for the third time in 6 months to change a redeye flight that they/I screwed up somehow, the same time, three times in a row. 30 minutes on the phone before I got to talk to someone who doesn't need the TOEFL test, but vindicated in the end and saved $150.
  
• Jay and Tracey are expecting tentatively on April 5. I need to call Uncle Craig and get a primer on the importance of youth sports in your nephew’s life. Those old Pirates teams (after Erik and I left, of course) were good… Jen and I can’t wait to be Uncle T.J. and Aunt Jen. I’m even going to avoid the temptation on buying toddler Cowboys stuff, in hopes that subliminal means will work in getting Jason’s kids to root for Dallas. Or, they might just be taking after their Uncle Erik. (i am looking for my picture of him in a Romo jersey, if anyone out there has it, please send to me...)
  
• On the flight home from Phoenix a few weeks ago, a man and his young son (~6 or 7) had seats in separate rows. The son sat down first, and the self-absorbed a-hole that was in the seat next to him didn’t bother to help, much less offer to switch seats with the father. Lucky for the father – and very unlucky for the guy – the lady in the middle seat next to the father offered to switch seats with his son. And the lady was NOT skinny. She waddled herself up to the middle seat and sat down right next to Mr. Inconsiderate, who now was hating life. It was pretty funny, the irony of the whole thing. Karma is a bitch…