Archive for July, 2006

West Virginia Wrapup

My business trip to ALCAN in West Virginia was exhausting. In the three weeks I was there, I worked up enough overtime to be the equivalent of three weeks of work… in three weeks time. That’s a lot of time.

Highlights included breakfast at Bob Evans. Almost every day (except for the three days I ate hotel breakfast, which sucked, and the one day I was called in at 3am), I ate French Toast with Strawberries on top and a side of crispy bacon. The cooks there really know how to make crispy bacon. I believe they teach their own discipline, crispabacon-fu. One waitress always immediately brought be a large glass of OJ and a small glass of water, that’s how regular I became. On the last day she waited on me she even made my breakfast entirely, since the cook had to step out for a bit. That earned her the largest breakfast tip I’ve ever given, at over 35%.

We also invented songs. Our favorites were, “How the Quench Stole 4th of July” (You’re a mean one… mister quench…) and “The Plate Expansion Opera,” with one song based on the Oompa Loompa song from the original Willy Wonka movie.

Two days ago, we found a new Mexican restaurant that had opened just outside Ravenswood. The food is awesome. I recommend the Echilada Poblano (whose adjective seems to not agree with the noun, until you realise it isn’t really an adjective, but a type of sauce, and hence another noun). However, they have the worst service ever. They act like they don’t know how to run a restaurant, and are in bad need of a greeter/seater/cashier, since the waitors and waitresses don’t have the time to multitask without forgetting about their customers. I’m sure in a month or so, they’ll have it all figured out since they won’t be rookies anymore, and it’ll be great. I just won’t be there anymore to eat the food, since I won’t be down there. But still, great food. Horrible service.

The project went well. STill some bugs left, but they are relatively minor, and it’s a lot of watching and making sure it stays working. My other two cohorts have next week covered, so now it’s time for the beach!

I was very happy this morning when I came in and saw things were working without me.

Bliss!

Off the Top of My Head…

Gerbils are like miniature pepperoni trees. They run round, and occasionally have some bite to them. Sometimes I like to look at gerbils with a magnifying glass, because they like to stare back at me. It makes their eyes look really big. Unfortunately, when a gerbil has icey eye rays they can severely hurt you because of the magnifying lens. Luckily, if you have a cup handy, you can taste the rays’ delicious cherry flavour.

Pumpkins are also a subject of much intrigue. One pumpkin I owned started a coup and soon the Squash Dictatorship was overthrown. It used a combination of propaganda and guerilla warfare, ending with a tactical strike against the heart of the empire. Emperor Gourd was last seen lying bloody in a ditch outside of San Juan.

I really wish I had an avacado with which to exchange political discourses.

Movies!!

I added a few new movies in the “Watching” category on the sidebar. Typically, that list is just what’s coming up soon on our Netflix list or DVDs that we’ve purchased but haven’t watched yet. I decided to add some movies that are either in theaters now or will be in the future, so that we remember to go see them. If Matt weren’t on that business trip right now, I’d probably suggest Superman Returns for his birthday and maybe even a bonus of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest a few days after. This way, I’ll be able to look at the blog when he gets back and remember to suggest that we go to the movies. Summer is so good at making me want to spend a lot of money at the movies.