A vacation to Florida...cliche or not it was nice weather...bad airports

So I am not one to bad mouth things...well maybe a little, but I DO NOT do it that often. I just want to start by saying if there is a large city that has a large international airport that is a major hub for a major airline, you would think they would update their airport to the increase in air traffic, or you think they would figure out a way to get out of the 66% on-time rate. As of right now, Newark Liberty International Airport and Continental Airlines are BOTH on my poop-list. The last three times I have flown anywhere around NYC (most getting back into NYC) my flight has been delayed or I have spent too much time (more then I would want to) on the tarmac. I must say this. Some of the smaller airlines are nicer then the older bigger ones. I have flew Airtran a few times now, and I have had nothing but good to say. Continental on the other hand has gotten my goat more then once. I realize airlines can not control the weather or air traffic, but let people know!!!!

Alright better note, went on vacation to Florida and I must say, I had fun. I know I recently went to Florida (see last blog entry) but this time I went for fun and not business. I got to go to the beach and see Gators, and other wildlife. So I will recap for you.


We arrived in Fort Lauderdale to almost 80 degree weather (its Feb and night time...impressed) and hopped in the car to drive to our destination of Miami Beach, we drove around looking for parking...there is none BTW in Miami Beach...finally finding parking in a garage...but the wrong one and they charged us $ 20 to park for about 15 min...REALLY?!?! We immediately changed into shorts and sandals and walked around the beach and what not. Ate a bite and then went to bed, in the tiniest hotel room I have seen, maybe about the size of my apartment bedroom, which if you know...is small. Next day we went walk around, and ended up going on a Duck Tour, very fun and we go to learn more about Miami Beach, went in Biscayne Bay, and it was fun, then we went to the beach. Now if we had stayed in the are just a few more days we would have got to stay for Food Networks Food and Wine Festival, that would have been fun...so I will fast forward a bit.

After we are done with Miami Beach we head down RT 1 for our next leg in Vaca Key which is in the city of Marathon...mid-Keys. We ALMOST saw the sun set but some trees got in the way. Doesn't matter we saw it the next night. BEFORE we got to the keys we thought we would stop over in the Everglades, I must say it's a must see. 10 bucks and you get to see SO much wildlife, and 30+ miles of NOTHING...SWAMP really, but its neat. The alligators looked fake because they are lazy and smelly.
As I re-read this I do realize I sound like I am writing one of those "what I did on my summer vacation" posts, but as I will always say, not many people read this, and the few who do...don't care...or if they do they don't say anything, this isn't junior year english or Writing Lab...so POO ON YOU! Also I know my grammar and such is bad but you know what I am not up for any awards, hence the name of the blog. BACK ON TRACK NOW!

SO saw the gators, pelicans, vultars, beautiful people, some fish and lots of Egrets and Herons. The things I DID NOT see, was Mantees, armadillos, or Pathers. Jeremy equated it with people going to Maine expecting to always see a Moose...Anyways.

We got tostand at the southernmost point in the continental US. It was neat, but not as neat as the Sunset we saw. That was one of the highlights of the trip, a really sunset, the first one I think I have ever seen go over the horizon over water...very pretty and well worth the drive. Next year we are going to drive down...cheaper and more reliable then the planes...gah.

Co-op Farm, disney, meeting co-workers, and running

Co-op:
While I wait for pictures to upload to my computer I thought I would blog about the last few weeks since you know there is a lot that happened and I have been saying "I need to blog about this," and never do. I procrastinate a little bit I suppose so the first I would say would be to talk about the co-op farm we became a part of. It's called Norwood Farm and I am so glad we joined, in Maine we were a part of the Willowpond farm and always got lots of great veggies. SO I decided to take some pictures of the veggies and whatnot that we got so here are the pictures:



They make me want to cook now, we even got a little thing of milk, 2 lbs of beef, and 2 dozen eggs. The funny looking root thing is celery root...delicious roasted with sweet potatoes!


Disney:
So my life long dream...go to Disney World, and well I went since I was in the area for work, took and extra day to see family, and of course a day in Disney! I realize it takes longer to see disney in one day, but whatever I went and decided to go to Epcot...kinda wish I went to Magic Kingdom...but whatever. I did everything I wanted to at Epcot I went on some rides, I met mickey, and I got to eat a giant turkey leg...really giant...

Meeting Co-workers...

Here is a fun time, actually it was I must say I was kind of looking forward to it since I like to meet new people I thought it was cool. I have met a few of them and have met some of them on the phone but putting a real person with a name and such was great. These people are some of the most intelligent, hard working, nicest, and knowledgeable people. They love what they do and they do it good, with well very little complaints, yes every job has complaints but I think it is more with things that are out of our control unless we change it. I think mostly it was insurance companies which are always hard to handle, medicare and medicaid....grrr. OH well, I got to stay in Orlando for free, during a very nice week (I believe it was at least 70 degrees each day.) I got to FINALLY run outside after a few weeks. It was NICE! So I ran two days, drank some bad wine, ate tons of great food, met some great people and learned way too much. I love my job since I love learning confidential info...not gonna tell you what I learned. Well I guess this goes into the next part of my post...

RUNNING!

So here is the maps of my run...it was a little over 6 miles, fun times here is the map, I went around my old neighborhood and then there was the track...I found and outdoor track...a real outdoor track...glorious outdoor track, now I can actually go somewhere and go around in an ellipse when I run, sometimes...It's nice. I can go on the weekends, and if I want take the train to the end of the line, walk a little bit and bam...TRACK! very nice! SO I started running again since I have this half marathon coming up. Most likely...11:30 pace group, should be fine.

The GPS is somtimes wrong...but most of the time it's right.

This is an email I sent to my fellow consultants the other day telling of my trials and fights that I have with my Garmin GPS...I love the thing and MOST of the time it takes me in the right direction...but sometimes...MAN IS IT WRONG! The ending is a work related thing since we get 55 cents a mile...I believe if my calculations were right that is 3114 miles time .55 equals...$1712.70 that would have been a nice chunk of change...LOL and I can't seem to get the screen shot right...bah

"For all you who use a GPS here is my most recent story of trying to avoid the tolls of New Jersey/New York…of which there are many, esp in my parts:
I decided to set the feature on my GPS to “no tolls” while coming back into NYC from New Jersey, just to see where it would take me and see if I could avoid paying an 8 dollar toll to cross a bridge. If any of you have been across the Hudson River from NJ to NY there is NO way of avoiding paying a toll, all bridges and tunnels have a toll. So I was driving and usually these thing will put you just over a bridge with a toll…not this time, this time the GPS took me past the George Washington Bridge…and told me to keep going. Curious as to where the GPS was taking me I pulled into the Parkway gas station that came up and clicked through the directions to see the “toll free, fastest route” and here is the approximation of the rt…give or take:

Palisades Parkway north (until you hit 84)
Take i-84 to Scranton, PA follow until I-76 to I-70, this will take me to Columbus, OH, which eventually will take me to Indianapolis, IN
The you follow I-65 up to I-80 which takes me to Des Moines
I get onto I-35 to Minneapolis, MN and then to Duluth, MN
After this I follow the road along Lake Superior (I forget what this rd was called) and eventually end up going through customs in Canada (I didn’t even have my passport) Go along to Ottawa, Montreal, and eventually come to I-91 in VT where I head south through VT, Mass, and CT end up on the Merritt/Hutchinson Parkway between CT and NY, and I am home…honestly I guess it was better I paid the 8 dollar toll then to waste gas and get the mileage for that, I could only image the reaction for the Mileage report on my expense sheet…"

A funny thing happend on the way to Atlantic City...not really

Hey all readers. Jeremy and I decided we were going to be spontaneous, I have really wanted to go to Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, or Atlantic City. So we decided...at the last minute I might add...we decided to take a cold trip to Atlantic City. I mean the beach in the Northeast in January is not the best place to take a mini-vacation. Well the good thing about it is that it is not crowded and the prices are cheap! So we leave and are faced with the usual Friday night Cross-Bronx traffic and take a different stupid way by going through Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, but I had never been over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge...so it was nice...and expensive...damn tolls. So we stayed at the Days Inn, on the Boardwalk. Not so bad, clean, cheap, and between two casinos, PERFECT! Time to Gamble. We head over to the Tropicana and try our luck at some slots. We aren't big gamblers so slots are perfect. We went over and the Tropicana isn't so bad. Its not the nicest but it's nice for me. We went over to the Hilton too, but yah that one was not so great...imagine your grandma's casino...blah NO THANKS. So back to the Tropicana for some slots and Hooters Wings...that's right we went to Hooters...and their wings suck...The next day, we did a little more gambling, walked around the beach, found some shells, walked down the beach, saw some hobos (is that PC?? probably not), and went to the pier mall, you know a nice mall with lots of stores I would not shop at or I have not heard of,
but hey there was a store with my name...accent and all. SO now I guess I can't make a store named after me for very wealthy females...darn...oh well there was a dancing water show, those are always fun! The greatest part was the sign that said it was experiencing technical difficulties...looked fine to me. The best part of Atlantic City I would say are the little signs every block going down the Boardwalk that looked like Monopoly Deed Properties. After a while I started wonder and then I figured out not all of the are from the game! oh well here are a few
They actually had fun little factoids on them too. So we took a walk down "Boardwalk" passed "Park Place" and ended up at the Taj Mahal...that one doesn't work. We rounded out our tour of Atlantic City with some more gambling at the various Video Poker Machines and walking around the outlet shopping. We also had one of the DELICIOUS...yah...Buffets...yah...I can see why some of the are free...yah and the signs that say what is in the buffet...man talk about FALSE advertising, I am glad I a limited in what I can eat now. Oh well over all a pretty neat weekend, I am glad we went so when I go in May for a convention I will know where to and where not to gamble.

First post of the New Year

Well here is it another year has come and gone and what happened in 2008, too much to blog about, what with the economy in the toilet, some of the highest gas prices EVER, and lots of other stuff. I just really don't care to blog about things that everyone else is blogging about. I am sure you can go around to Google and search and read tons of blogs about the sagging economy, the crappy music on the radio, the price of oil (first its too high, now its getting too low), the election, Obama's picks for his cabinet, and any other number of news related items, but you know what I am not going to blog about anything like that. My blog is different and I have said that. It is about ME ME ME, like the title says, my life in general. SO I will go through quickly 2008 in my life and see what happened. Let's see, not so much excitement happened in 2008 to me, except what i have been blogging about already, quick recap lets see how long this list can be, and they are in no particular order:
1. Had a crappy commute at a job I didn't really like for about 10 months.
2. Quit said job I didn't like for a better job, no commute.
3. Earned a MSEd from Simmons College (now I am more in Debt!)
4. Got a job in my field of study (how many people can say THAT this past year)
5. Went Gay camping (that was an experience to say the least)
6. Started a Blog
7. Had a computer crash on me, only to get it fixed bigger and badder (in a good way)
8. Ran 7 miles in one day.
9. Playing in the Gay/Lesbian Band for a few rehearsals...but I will go back...eventually
10. Passed a drug test with flying colors.
11. Stopped eating Gluten.
12. Found room in our tiny apartment for an office.
13. Paid off Credit cards.
14. Boosted my credit score.
15. Saved over $4000 then spent it (see #13)
16. Celebrated and learned about new Holidays.
17. Met lots of new and interesting people.
18. Visited a state I have never been to before, twice, within two months.
19. Visited a new country I have never been to before.
20. Added a new country to my list of "Countries where I have peed outside"
21. Had a High School reunion...and enjoyed it.
22. Got stuck at an airport for 6 hours...without even leaving the airport.
23. Got an LL Bean CC HA FREE SHIPPING!
24. Caught up with long lost friends after 10 years
25. Became an Uncle...again.
26. Got closer with some friends and family.
27. Adopted 2 awesome (sometimes) kitties.
28. Learned the nuances of driving in NJ.
29. Learned I like lots of different types of beers, becoming ALMOST a Beer snob then lost it all (see #11)
30. Learned I like Scotch...again, bad idea.
31. Rented my first car.
32. Got a company credit card
33. Got business cards (see #2)
34. Read two books about food...well I guess three books about food, two about mundane food items...interesting too I must say
35. Decided I liked Paula Deen...but slowly her recipes are getting more and more ridiculous.
36. Decided I didn't care too much to Rachel Ray...her recipes are just crazy.
37. Got a tooth pulled (finally)
38. Drove to the end of Long Island and sat and drank a Sparks.
39. Potentially was struck by lightning at an outdoor rock concert.
40. Found out Bourbon + Pickle Juice = DELIGHTFUL!
41. Saw REM in concert (see #39...and past blog)
42. Went to one of my favorite places in the world (Smalls Falls, ME)
43. Lived in NYC for a year...and counting!
44. Had a weekly evening dinner and scrabble with my cousin...for a few months anyways
45. Went on the train pretty much across Germany.
46. Drank German beer in Austria, throw up and went on a train...and threw up again.
47. Walked my last sister to get married down the aisle.
48. Went on the Sound of Music tour, danced in the garden where Julie Andrews danced, touched the Gazebo from the movie, walked down the aisle of the church in the Sound of Music, and maybe climbed one of the trees...maybe not.
49. Voted for the first African American president in history.
50. Played in a Tuba Christmas!
51. Went to the top of the Empire State Building at Midnight
52. Saw the Macy's Day parade...live
53. Ran a 5k without training.
54. Went to 3 out of the 5 Ikeas in the tri-state area
55. Played tour guide for my Mom on the HOTTEST day of the year.



Okay so it came out to 50 things, and I was grabbing at straws the last few. I must say that 2008 was pretty much a cool year, having not been THAT affected by the economy...job-loss, house-loss, etc...I am pretty fortunate to have great friends, supportive family and such a great time doing everything, just looking on the bright side of things and trying to keep my chin up....man I am starting to want to kick my own ass...and just being the best person I can be. Life is pretty good and I am trying to make the best of it until something rough happens (which you never know) and then I will say "Life...stop, I was good to you, be good to me." Well I suppose that is my first blog post of the new year...in a nut shell.

a few blogging points today

A few blogging points today so I guess it might be a long one.
First I decided to play tourist with the in laws and Jeremy on Thanksgiving, I honestly was not looking forward to getting up at 5am and trekking down to the city to see some giant helium balloons on a day when I could easily sleep a few extra hours. Reluctantly I got out of bed, put clothes on and we boarded the 6 train for the parade. We made our usual stop over at 125th st, but knowing that today was a holiday AND it was before 6:30...there was no express train, but it was insisted we got off, and what do yah know I was right, no express train, but we took the 4 train anyway and got off boarded the next train...N or something and then got off in Times Square. I realize this is a big parade and people line up early but you would have thought it was New Years Eve and people wanted to get a glimpse at that glittery ball slowly dropping on the pole. So we walked a few blocks and claimed stake next to what we thought would be an open corral (since we are cattle and need to be corralled. It turned out we were right and being the gracious humans we are pushed our way to the front...knocking over an old lady in the process...I wish. No but we did get to the front and I was half on half off the side walk, standing...in the cold...for almost 3 hours. Then the parade started. A barrage of giant helium balloons including Smurfs, Dora, Shrek, and others came down the road. Giant Kermit was in there, as well as the cast of Sesame Street, come on I almost cried when I saw the cast of Sesame Street...childhood memories...and THERE THEY ARE!! Later on singing Kermit on a float came. I had the joy of standing next to two what seemed like late high school/early college girls who LOVED Mylie Cyrus and David Archulleta...as in the kid who SHOULD have won American Idol...like I care, there is a bad picture of Mylie...for Bob. Oh well the parade came and went and Santa showed up as usual. It was a fun time, cold but fun, and I will probably never do it again.

point two...making my first turkey
So since we decided on hosting thanksgiving we were wondering when we would have time to cook since we were going to the parade. We started out with the idea of just cooking a boneless turkey brest a-la-Rachael Ray...but of course 5 store later I couldn't find one. So I moved onto the idea that my sister in law gave me and get just the breast, again would have taken the same amount of time it would have taken me to cook a real turkey. SO we went with the real turkey and it would have been ready within 4 hours, awesome. So I think I am a pretty good cook, not good enough to warrant my own Food Network show but damn my turkey was delicious! I mean it was suculacnt and delicious, I brined it although after reading several places not to follow the "new trend" and brine the turkey and having 28 other thanksgiving dinner and various other turkey holidays I have had enough turkey to know, brining is the way to go! Everyone pitched in and it was a great time had by all. The next day we all slept in and attempted suicide by going to Macy's Herald Square...urgh...we moved on past the mad house. We saw Grease and at first I really could've cared to go, but I must say it was good. I was very pleased with the musical, I was upset that Max from the TV show wasn't in it. Ace from American Idol was though, really I didn't know who that was, heard of him but didn't care for him. Oh well it was a fun time.

next point: following advise on bars in manhattan...if a celeb or psuedo-celeb advises you to go to a certain bar, I think there is a rule, PEOPLE FOLLOW WHAT THEY SAY! SO of course on a saturday night it is going to packed to the brim. Of course it is also probably on the expensive side, unless it's Rachael Rays's 40 Dollars a day. It wasn't so expensive, pretty good beer, but it was crowded. I am glad I went, the two bars we went to McSorley's which makes their own Ale. It was good, and for some reason we each got two...and we better have we waited about 20 min just to get in, and Pepe wasn't working. The other bar we went to was called the Burp Castle this place was cool, not as crowded but damn expensive, kinda small place. Oh well what are yah gonna do, right?

What's 5 more kilometers...I said to myself...

Seriously, what is 5 more kilometers, or 6 as it ended up being. I went out to run 5k today because I haven't been out for a real run in a week, so I went out for a 5k and when I took a few extra turns to add maybe a mile or so, I ended up pretty far from my starting point, so I kept running...that's where endorphins come in. So I kept running, and crossed a bridge and then added some more turns...and more turns, and the woman on my Nike+ kept telling me I exceeded my goal, 1,2,3,4,5...so at this point I was ready to finish, I mean this is almost 6.5 miles...so I had at least 1k left before I was home, so I cut through Parkchester, almost fell down some steps, almost got hit by a few cars (as I usually do) and hit my power song (Barracuda,) but then my power song ended...really...come on and so I kept running and ended up running a little over 11K which I was like a little shy of 7 miles...although this picture shows 7 miles...whatever.