The Simpsons House: Home
As part of a promotion, a full scale replica of the Simpson's home was built in Henderson, Nevada. This is from 1997, but it's still pretty cool! Check it out... there is a virtual tour of the house and photos from Matt Groenig's visit to the home!

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  Vegas Baptism So we got up at 5am this morning. We took a different way up here this time. wow, it took like an hour off our time... only 5 hours! After a short baptism at the church, we headed back to the hotel while the rest of the family went to Saturday night mass. We rested for a bit and then headed to the restaurant for dinner.

Luckily we followed the rest of the family because otherwise we'd have no idea where to go. It was on the far north end of the strip (in an area that wasn't too close to any casinos.) So it was fairly empty and parking was easy to find right up front. We had sooo much food!

So now, I'm sitting in our hotel room resting. Me, Barbara, and Paulina are going to stay in tonight and watch the kids. But I think everyone else is going out to Opium (club.) I'm too tired. We've been up since 5 am this morning and drove all the way here. So between that and not really wanting to spend a ton of cash drinking (cause I know I'll want to drink a lot) staying in the hotel seemed the better bet.

So that's about it...   ¶ 11:27 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Vegas Update   ¶ 9:21 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Packing for Vegas   ¶ 9:55 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Google Blog So now that Google bought Blogger, Finally Google has their own blog as well:

Google Blog

... just another reason to love Google! (How could you not love Google???)  ¶ 10:20 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  At last... a chance to breathe Geez... for the past week I've been so busy with work. Maybe I should have prolonged the prep time for the new marketing program, but hell - let's get this show on the road! At least it'll all be 'done' before the holiday. So I can just rest! I was up pretty late last night finishing some of this stuff up and am in the office today printing some these packets off.

Man, I've been working like a dog! I feel bad cause Barbara is off of school for 2-3 weeks, and all I've done is work - work - work! At least the next 2 weekends are work-free. We'll be busy, but at least work-free.

So now, I'm catching my breath before I have to go to the airport and catch a flight to Colorado Springs. The ironic thing is that Barbara will be leaving tomorrow for Denver! Damn, only a day off - not that we would've had a chance to meet up anyway, but it would've worked out with going the airport and coming home.

I think in the past week, I've worked about 60-80 hours! In the long run it'll definitely pay off.

Anyway, not much else going on except for work... Did I mention that I was working a lot?

Ok, time to leave...  ¶ 11:44 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

  Shrek 2 We are at movies about to see Shrek2 right now. Tthe line was super long. Luckily we got here early! Ok... 15 Minutes left till it starts! Maybe I'll give me review later...
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  What a Week (so far)! Today I had a meeting with Jack, Sheryl, and Kevin Sullivan (Branch Manager in Colorado Springs.) We began the meeting around 9:00 this morning and ended at 6:00 pm. Um... like woh! 9 Hours!!! I think that was the longest meeting that I've ever been in. We were very productive, and we extensively discussed many issues. Overall a good day.

It looks as though we're kicking off our pilot/test program within the next week or two. What does this mean to me? Well, where do I start? First off, it means that I'm gonna be super busy for the next few weeks - when am I not slammed with work? Secondly, I am going to Colorado Springs next week for only one night to meet the pilot program branch. It should be very interesting!

The next few weeks are sooo freakin busy for Barbara and me... Colorado Springs for work, Vegas for a christening, Cali for a wedding, and then Chicago for 4 days for work (hehe and play.) Geez and that's within the next month!

...well, it could be worse! At least I'm not being sent overseas for 2 months. (Seth just found out last week that AT&T wants to send him to the UK and the Czech Republic for 6 to 8 weeks - and he leaves on SUNDAY!!!) OK, so it could be worse.  ¶ 12:51 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Movies and Pho! This past weekend was very uninteresting, and we really didn't do much. Well, not much other than work (for me at least.) I was busy both yesterday and today doing some work developing some direct mail marketing pieces (specifically catering to the Colorado market.) You would think that some of these things would be easy/quick to do. But they always take longer than you expect. Tomorrow I've got a meeting with several people concerning our Value-Added Marketing at work. It should be interesting.

Other than working all weekend, we watched a couple movies too: "Stuck On You" and "Matchstick Men." "Stuck on You" had Matt Damon and Greg Kinear and "Matchstick Men" had Nicholas Cage. Both movies were decent. "Stuck on You" was a cute movie with funny moments. Not an Oscar winner, but definitely an alright rental. "Matchstick Men" on the other hand was an interesting movie that was a better rental. It was a little slow at first, but was a clever movie. Both Barbara and I love those types of movies. You know... movies like "Oceans Eleven", "Fight Club", "Vanilla Skies", "The Usual Suspects" - smart, clever movies that make you think a little bit and have a twisting ending.

Additionally, Barbara made Pho (not pronounced fo - rhyming with go - but like fah - rhyming with duh) on Sunday. It was soooo good! Go baby! We had her family over (including her dad.) It was a full house! I think that was the most people we've had in our place. I guess everyone enjoyed the pho... we finished it all!  ¶ 10:21 PM 1 Comments Links to this post

  John Kerry Endorsed by International Brotherhood of Police Officers "Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry today received the endorsement of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers (IBPO), the only major national police organization to back the winner of the last three Presidential elections. Having supported George Bush in 2000, IBPO said today it has been let down by the President and that America’s police officers have a strong, lifelong ally in John Kerry..."

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  Another Thursday Night of "Krapp" I attended "Band Night" last night after a long hiatus (at least 4 or 5 months.) It was mildly fun and entertaining, but I can't help walking away with the feeling of "why bother?" Maybe it's cause I haven't really played my guitar in months or maybe it's cause Keith was there (that bastard!) But overall, I kinda lack the enthusiasm to play that I once had.

I've got to admit, I had a blast when things were sounding good. We whipped out a semi-decent version of "Flake", "Run Around", and "Hotel California," and there were some crappy versions of other stuff too. One of the things that lessen the enjoyment for me is the fact that people are there to watch "Band Night." When it goes well, it's all good... but when things aren't working - people fade fast and get restless. I just hate being unprepared. PRESSURE!!!!

We tried to get things organized this week: Josh got a play list together of about 13 or 14 songs. It would've worked out pretty well, but Keith was a no-show so that put the kabosh on things. It's hard to play a lot of the songs when you don't have the lead guitar, and unfortunately, no one else knows his parts.

Even when I have fun, the next day I'm always asking myself, "why do I bother?" Yeah, it's good to get out and drink some beer and make some noise, but somehow I think that I'm also just wasting my time. Maybe I just need start playing more.  ¶ 8:40 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Owww!

After closely examining this photo, I'm convinced that this photo is not real. But never the less, it is still pretty disgusting - but somehow amusing at the same time!  ¶ 12:20 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Meetings - Shmeetings! This morning we had a mandatory meeting for work. It was led by the V.P. of our retail sector and had to deal mostly with fraud. Man, it was boring! Luckily I had a couple cups of coffee before hand ... otherwise, I definitely would've fallen asleep! Next time we have one of these things, I really need to see if I can get out of it. It really had nothing to do with me. At least there was lunch afterwards. I guess, in some ways, they just wanted to include me with the rest of the office.

The afternoon was pretty short and went by pretty quickly. Starting this week, I am going to start working from home on Thursdays. I find that I just get so much more done when I can be in the comfort of home. No one bothers me to do something for them... no stupid phone calls... no distractions. Besides I have a lot of work to do on this marketing program for work.

Now that Uncle Joe's visit is over, we have nothing coming up till the end of the month. Besides Barbara finishing up this semester tomorrow (last final - woo-oooh!) she's got a business trip to Denver in the last week of the month, and then we're going to Vegas for Kaydence's christening (Jimmy's youngest brother's kid) over Memorial Day weekend. Then the next weekend we're flying out to Oakland for a wedding (Barbara's oldest cousin.) And then I have a business trip to Chicago for 4 nights. Wow, now that's a busy 3 weeks!!! I guess it's good that we get to take it easy now.   ¶ 11:40 PM 2 Comments Links to this post

  Fogo E Brasa We just got back from dinner with Uncle Joe...



We went to Fogo E Brasa for dinner! This place is amazing!!!! It's Brazilian Ridizio. According to their site:

"Experience an authentic Brazilian Churrasco steakhouse, where savory cuts of meat and old world traditions are celebrated. Skewered meats served tableside, complemented by lavish salad and seafood selections, make your experience complete."

No menus... No limits! hahah - my type of place! And lots of meat!

On your table you have a tricolored wooden cylinder (red on one side, yellow in the middle, and green on the other end.) When you wanted meat to be brought out on the skewers, placed the wooden cylinder with the green end up. If you wanted to take a rest, you put the red side up. When you finally give up and no longer want any meat, you lay the cylinder down on it's side.

It's great, they come by and keep on offering different types of meat until you finally give up (or rest.) My suggestion... take it easy on the salad bar (which in itself was very good) and pace yourself once you start the meat. Additionally, don't submit to a lot of one thing when they start bringing stuff out. The first skewers may be things like chicken and turkey... but hold on cause the sirloin and garlic-crusted ribeye come out later! Additionally they give you several table additional: fried plantains, rice, "salsa" vigaigrette (to put over your meats), and a flour that you can mix in your rice and other dishes.

Once again... if you go, pace yourself and take advantage of the red side of the wooden cylinder. Take your time and take it slow!  ¶ 10:11 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  Uncle Joe came down for the day today. It was nice seeing him, even if it was only for a day. We did make the best of it...

We picked him up from the airport around 8:30 this morning, and then we went to The Farm at South Mountain (one of my websites) for breakfast. Luckily we got there early, because by the time we left the place was packed for Mother's Day. We had a great breakfast there and then headed back to our house.

After taking the long way back to our house (the highways were closed due to road construction) we gave Uncle Joe the quick tour of our place and relaxed for a bit. We then headed over to Barbara's sister & Bro-in-law's house to let U.J. meet them and see their place.

Jayden and I played a quick game of "imaginery baseball" and "guess the animal." Then Barbara, U.J. and I headed over to Saguaro Lake to have some lunch and to show U.J. that we do actually have some real water in this desert.

By the time we were done there we had to take U.J. to his hotel and get back home so we could get ready for dinner...  ¶ 9:54 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  TechTV lays off San Francisco staff | CNET News.com:

"TechTV told 285 San Francisco employees on Thursday that their jobs are being eliminated, a move that was widely feared by workers after Comcast announced in March that it would acquire the technology cable channel. "

This royally sucks! G4 is going to fuck up TechTV. Gaming is cool and everything, but I could really do with out more gaming entertainment. Their shows like "The Screensavers" and "Call For Help" are great shows! They better not screw with those shows at least... those bastards!!!!  ¶ 11:39 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

  New Orleans was fuckin awesome! We had such a great time down there. The weather sucked, but it still fun!

As I flew in over the swamps around New Orleans, I could see the the wet grounds through the dark clouds and the rain on the plane windows. Never the less, it was going to be a great weekend. I sat in the airport bar and drank a huge ass beer while waiting for the guys. I kinda thought that I was in trouble when I was starting to get a buzz while drinking the big ass beer, but at least I wasn't the one to blow chunks (see more below.)

Scenes from New Orleans . . .

 

 

 

 

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