It's Monday...wet and cold. What happened to the beautiful weekend? Before you know it, it will be 95 degrees.
We won't experience spring weather this year. Heather killed Jacq and me Saturday morning. She was on a power
trip. I even called her a Nazi. She laughed. I hurried home to pick up some last minute items for Chi Mai.
I skipped out on lunch with Viet. Luckily, he didn't have to wait too long to get into the building. I managed
to cut up the fruit and just when I was about to nap, Viet returned from his lunch. We opened a bottle of sparkling
from Burgundy to get the weekend going. Hayden and I rushed to Williamsburg to unload and went back into the city
for Astoria. Chi Mai experienced a shrimp explosion...twice. My nuoc cham was too sweet. We added a bit more fish
sauce, lime, and water. Everyone showed up for the sit down dinner. The last person trickled in an hour and a half
later. We found a yellow cab not too far from Bac Mai's home. I was up in the morning for the run and came home to a plate
of breakfast goodies courtesy of Den. He ended up cooking all day and night. Zoe was a good girl at the park. She
enjoyed smelling everyone's butts. Baking of the cookies finally happened. I was not allowed to watch the Housewives
of any city. I resorted to cooking and "how it's made" shows. Yes, it was chan doi to the 9th power. I woke up this
morning to a damp and gloomy sky. Joel, I'll get you the specs shortly. I hope you didn't get lost in the forest.
Mike, enjoy your long weekend celebrating the reunification of the motherland. I don't agree with the political system
in place, but I appreciate the one country instead of two.
April 26, 2013
April 25, 2013
I am physically back at my office now in case you are wondering where I've been. I need to return the office
key to the folks down at the Square. I enjoyed my long weekend in central Florida. The Epcot Center deal didn't follow
through as expected. We did the cheap thing and hung out at the pool and Downtown Disney. I am to return to all of that in July.
Tampa was much nicer. It was surprising to see a resort and spa in a small town. I experienced the FAA employee
furloughs first hand for my flight back to Newark. The plane arrived at the gate and passengers deplaned as
scheduled. However, we were not allowed to board because the air traffic controllers would not release
us into the sky. There was a shortage of controllers due to the furloughs. We are to experience these flight delays
through September. The gate rep explained to all that it was not the airline's fault the flight is delayed. She
said to come to the counter if we have any questions or need more info. Instead of the original 2-hour delay, it
was pushed up to 1 hour. We got into Newark 30 minutes after the scheduled arrival time. Speaking of delays and air travel,
my parents can no longer travel by themselves. If my mom flies by herself, she should be okay. I survived the 2-day
class down on Broad Street. The class was surprisingly fun because the instructor was super lively. The class was
quite small with only 7 students. I was the only local person. Everyone else traveled from far away with one lady
coming all the way from Venezuela. Next year, I am going to book a course outside of New York. The restaurant space
down the block from my apartment finally found a tenant. The last tenant closed down after only a few months of
operating. This time, it will be a Caribbean restaurant with late night hours. They are hosting an open house
for neighbors tonight to welcome itself to our quiet neighborhood. This will be the first late night business on our
block. Lucky for me, the restaurant is on the other end of my block. Let's hope other late nighters will not creep
up and take over our block.
April 18, 2013
So a few of my shirts are too small for the dry cleaning machine. They are having to hand iron the shirts because
the machine cannot hold a shirt so small. The price of a hand pressed shirt as opposed to a machine pressed shirt
costs $5 more. Instead of paying $2.50 for a shirt, I would be paying $7.50 to dry clean ONE shirt. That's just
ridiculous. The girl and I went back and forth on how absurd it is to charge me an arm and a leg to dry clean some
shirts because I'm a small guy. You want me to be fat like everyone else? What about kids clothes? Do they charge
more for kiddie clothes? She understood that I have been a loyal customer all of these years and will speak with
the manager about keeping the low fee for me.
April 17, 2013
This one still cracks me up.
April 16, 2013
Happy Birthday, Chang! Make it an awesome day. You are slowly, but surely, approaching the big 3-0! Just not yet...
April 15, 2013
This past weekend was quite life changing for me. I finally got rid of the bed risers. I've had them since I moved
to New York. The risers create much needed storage space under my bed. I did some serious spring cleaning and managed
to trash a lot of the junk under my bed and in the closet. If I didn't wear it last year, then it has to go...either
in the trash can or someone else's closet. I rearranged some
stuff around in the closet to create more space for the stuff I am keeping. I no longer need to climb on my bed.
It wasn't a big deal, but sometimes you just want to fall into bed as opposed to climb into bed. At one point, I thought about
buying a step stool to help with the climbing. I am mailing some of my old work clothes to my dad. My mom says his
feet are even smaller than my own feet so I will donate my old shoes then. I think the iced coffee at Pho Grand got
me pumped up for some serious afternoon cleaning. David introduced me to "The Tudors". Yes, I am behind on this one
as well. There's some crazy drama there. I am almost done with the first season. That Boelyn chick is the same one
from Game of Thrones. I like how the British recycle their actors to play these period characters. We managed to finish
the last of my mom's egg rolls. I don't mind frying all that crap in my apartment any more. Lighting a scented candle
and cracking the window will release the oily smell. Late brunch turned into really late brunch on Saturday, but it
was fine after all. The food kept coming. Sunday's brunch was right on the dot thanks to Linh. She even left early
to anticipate getting lost and arriving late. However, she arrived five minutes early with her boyfriend. He ran
from LIC and ran back to LIC after eating. I ended the night with one chapter of 1Q84. KNT, I am trotting along as we
speak. I will finish it soon. I promise!
April 8, 2013
It looks like I will not be able to sustain my silver elite status with United this calendar year. This will
affect my travel for CY2014. No more boarding ahead of the general population, no more separate lines for the security
check, and no more free first checked bag. It was fun while it lasted. I only attained the status last year because of
my business travel to Europe. I calculated the remaining personal trips for this year. The mileage totals are not
enough to put me over the required 25K unless I fly business on all of the flights. That will not happen. I thought
about getting one of the Chase credit cards that should give you qualifying miles for purchases, but it carries a
$400 annual membership fee. Hopefully next year I can get it back when work travel plans are confirmed.
April 6, 2013
Happy Birthday, Addison! Enjoy your big party today. I received your invite yesterday and unfortunately, Cau Bee
cannot attend. If your mom had mailed the invitation a long time ago, perhaps I would have made arrangements to be
there. I am going to call you later today to quiz you on the multiplication table. United gave me 5,200 miles as a courtesy
due to the delayed baggage complaint I reported. I wonder if the miles will go toward my
calendar year balance or count as miles for an award ticket. The 10K race is not happening today after all. The big fiasco
was too much to handle. World War Z is quite addictive. I am supposed to finish 1Q84, but the zombie book makes for
an interesting read. 1Q84 needs to keep it moving. I'm sick of reading the same stuff over and over again.
So now she's pregnant with Tenko's baby even if she hasn't had sex in a long time? The crazy weather that one night produced this magnificent immaculate conception?
Can I just watch the movie to get the Cliff Notes version? I am
going to stock up on the remaining items for Mike and ship them off today...I think. I wonder if it's too cold to bike
today. I saw a bunch of people commuting on bikes this past week. The mud flaps will be removed soon.
Yes, brunch with Sandrine next Saturday like David prefers. She needs to understand that this is America and not
France. Do not do your literal translations. Keep them in France. Tdanger came by with some Chick-fil-A for a late lunch
office social. It sucks I cannot make it tonight. It should be an interesting evening and an amazing bargain I might
add...$7 for food and live entertainment. I will be stuck in Williamsburg.
April 4, 2013
As of right now, I have $220 in my bank account. This is how much cash I have to spend for the month.
I get paid once a month. The next time I get paid is on May 1st. I used to balance my check book to make sure
my withdrawals and monthly recurring charges are accurate. I stopped doing that a long time ago. You can pretty much
get a sense for how much money you have. It's even easier now that everything can be viewed on your phone. Chi Mai
cannot run the 10K this Saturday so I will run in her place. I didn't know I was doing a favor until Viet told me.
She needs to complete a number of races in a given calendar year to be eligible for next year's marathon. I don't mind
running so much. I have never done a 10K race. Actually, I have never done a race. We did do that one loop in
Central Park on marathon day so I take it to be the same thing as a 10K race. Addison got his birthday money early.
I always give checks, even as wedding gifts. The person counting the money can pocket the cash. With a check, only
the bride or groom can cash it. Co Be tells me that Anh Boy is going to Vietnam in July. She wants me to go in July
as well. I don't think I can. It will be filthy hot in the middle of summer. I prefer to fly during the other three
seasons when kids are in school. When getting into a security line at the airport, I choose the one with no kids.
The single traveler with one carry on item is my clue to get behind this person. The sunburn is slowly going away.
The itchiness comes and goes. Lotion really helps. I can't say the same about Cortizone. It does not relieve my itch at
all. Mike, your Movado is fake but it does look good. I hope it lasts for a good two months. I am sick of Jennifer
Hudson.