Thoughts

My trip last week to Scottsdale was an interesting one. There were a few new experiences as well as a few repeated ones.

If I chose to move somewhere south, I would not choose Florida. I would not choose Texas. Those places do not interest me. For some reason, I LOVE Arizona. Traveling to Arizona is not as bad in the winter as in the summer (2 hours behind ET rather than 3), but it is still tough to lose nearly a full day traveling when a flight from west to east is involved.

One of the gentlemen with whom I golfed for the tournament attached to our conference made a great point as we discussed vacation tips. He said that he vows to never spend his vacation in the air so all of his personal flights are redeye. Why lose a day? No need.

Speaking of golf, I'm happy to report that my foursome managed to win the award for highest score. Golf. Highest score. Yes, that means we lost. We were the worst team that played. I am not sure how their formula worked, but our score was not a good one when compared to the team that won for lowest score. Those guys got fleece jackets for winning and odds are it would not have fit me anyway, so the golf towel I got suits me just fine. And 2nd place through 2nd to last place all went home empty handed. You will not see me complain about being given a free towel from the golf course we played.

Here is what I would call the major difference between golf in Arizona and golf in Michigan. Let's just say that I am a seasoned veteran at finding balls hit into the woods. I may or may not have had my fair share of practice. Being the experienced woodsman that I am on the course, I put my head down and go find my ball. Consider my lesson learned. Using this same approach to finding my ball in the desert resulted in my walking into a cactus. Yes it was a small cactus and there was no serious damage, I just got stuck in the knee by a few needles. The continuing pain I had a few days later was ended when I noticed while drying off post-shower that I had two small splinter-like objects protruding from my knee. Apparently I had two little needles sticking out of my leg for two days and it never occurred to me to check.

We found a pretty fun place to kill a few hours between meetings. Garduños calls itself the "Margarita Factory". They have a Happy Hour from 3:30-7:00pm during the week. This Happy Hour is half priced margaritas and appetizers. It also features a little buffet of chips, salsa and various other Mexican snacks.

The food was great. The hotel was great. The golf was...at least a lot of fun. Hard to believe I was in town for work. I love Arizona. I cannot wait to get back.

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I found this place last April when I took my first work trip to the greater Phoenix area. It is located just west of the main drag of art galleries in Old Town Scottsdale. For someone who prefers mild warmth to severe heat, the atmosphere was perfect in April. Having just been there in February, the temperature was a little chilly.

The restaurant has an indoor seating area, though I cannot imagine a scenario when I would try to sit there. There is also a full patio which is why you have no reason to go inside.

The patio (covered in the rain) has space heaters if it does get cold out. There is a beautiful fountain in the middle of the patio that mixes a fire and water show with ambiance.

The menu is a modified Mexican. Traditional Mexican meals and tastes presented in new ways. The food is very good and I am told their margaritas, though not the best in town, are very good as well.

So far, this is my favorite restaurant in Phoenix/Scottsdale/Mesa, Arizona.

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Napoleon Dynamite told us it's pretty much his favorite animal. We laughed. We laughed at this ridiculous animal he made up.

He did make it up, didn't he?

Turns out the liger was not a figment of his movie imagination.

The liger is a cross between a male lion and a female tiger. It is therefore a member of genus panthera. It looks like a giant lion, with diffused tiger stripes. Like tigers (and unlike lions), ligers like swimming. -Wikipedia

(A tigon is the cross between a male tiger and a female lion.)

Who knew?

edit: This may unlock the secret. *NWS* CLICK *NWS*

This was my first stay at a Westin of any kind. I've heard legend of their registered trademark Heavenly Beds, but had never experienced one before. Having now spent three nights in one, I can begin to understand how they have earned the reputation in line with their name.

My room was not enormous, but was of a decent size. I was on the main floor of the hotel which may bother some people, but not me. I had a table and two chairs right outside the room for my use.

The bathroom was not huge, but was elegantly set up. Some hotels at which I have stayed recently have had cramped little bathrooms with no style. Kierland had a pretty nice setup; a nice big shower that I did not have to squeeze into next to a separate bathtub.

I did not have much chance to walk the grounds at the resort. My free time during the day was limited and I did not think I would get the full experience from touring at night. What I did see was enough to make me feel at home even though I was there to work. Stepping out back you are greeted with beauty. There is a large patio landscaped with palm trees and colorful flowers. There are many tables that have an individual outdoor fireplace and one large fire pit surrounded by many chairs. Raising your view you see a pond with a beautiful sculpture. Just beyond the water is a par 5 on the left and a par 4 on the right from the Kierland golf course. Beyond the holes you see the mountains.

We were spoiled in Arizona this week to see the incredible amount of green. The ground, the hillsides, the mountains were all green. The color was beautiful. One thirty year resident told us this is the most green Arizona has been in her time there.

The resort itself is expensive during the winder months. Another local told me, however, that if you can brave the desert summers the rooms are very affordable. He said that the rooms become an attraction to the residents of the area who just want a night or two away from home since the rates are so inexpensive.

No offense to the other resort in the greater Phoenix area at which I have stayed, but the Kierland gets my vote as the place to stay.

A guy I golfed with on Tuesday told me this one:

How many Notre Dame students does it take to change a light bulb?

5. 1 to change the light bulb and 4 to talk about how great the experience was.

Ok, so maybe I'm the only one who found that funny...

** Rhetorical **

What is the point of turning up the volume on a movie you're watching that is in Japanese with English subtitles?

To see me sitting at my computer at night with a book on my lap is not an uncommon scene. There did happen to be something different about it last night. It was not something that was different for the first time, just something that was different for the first time in over three months.

My old regimen involved leaving work 3-4 days a week and going straight to the gym. Once there I would play 2-3 hours of basketball. Needless to say I would be good and tired by the time I then got home. Once I hurt my ankle, plans changed. I was no longer playing basketball and my surplus of energy found no release.

Nearly two weeks ago Wil dragged me to the gym and we played a game or two both Friday and Saturday. It was nothing exciting, but nice none the less to be back on the court. I could tell, however, that I was not fully ready.

Last night I let him sucker me into going with him again. After a quick lift I could no longer contain my anxiety to get back on the court. Unsure how my ankle would hole up, I remained cautious, but played just the same.

I had a few scares, but nothing serious. I came down on another guy's foot in one of the handful of games we played, but I came down flat on it. My ankle didn't rotate. I got lucky.

We were probably at the gym for close to 2 hours, and though it wasn't nearly as much basketball as I used to play I was happy. My ankle is not 100%, but it is nice to know that I can test it a little more now than I could before. My legs will be sore tomorrow, but it is that "I did something" sore that I don't mind.

Sitting at my computer last night I was genuinely physically exhausted. It had been a long time. It felt great.

Yesterday (Saturday) morning I had somewhere I had to be at 8:30am. It was the type of engagement that had I missed it I would have needed to wait 4 months for another appointment. My appointment was to take my LSATs and once the testing has begun, if you are late you do not get to take the test. The next test date is scheduled for June.

Sure I was smart enough to leave plenty early. No surprises at the testing site if you arrive early enough. I only had one stop to make on my way. Makes sense to swing by the convenience store for an eraser in case of any mistakes on the exam, does it not?

I exit the store and get in my car. Backing out of my parking space I notice that something is afoot. Parking halfway out of the space I run around my car to see my front right tire completely flat.

What I thought was an innocent incident, apparently was more severe. On route to the store the truck in front of me ran over an umbrella of all things. In doing so the umbrella flew out from beneath the truck directly at...my front right tire.

Long story shortened in the interest of your time, it is a good thing that my parents live 10 minutes away from the store in whose parking lot I was stranded. I was, however, prepared to seek other means to make my appointment. Thoughts crossed my mind to walk back into the store and ask for a ride. I was even ready to walk the remainder of the way; I was not far away mind you.

Nothing too exciting. Just dumb luck.

(In the end I made it on time and my tire was changed shortly after my test. The test went as well as was expected. I get my results in a few weeks.)

Playing around on the internet as I, like many, often do, I happened upon a site this morning not unlike many others. It was a blog with a more preachy atmosphere (not my style) but one thing on the page really stuck out in my mind. It had nothing to do with the page's author which is why the link is not included. Through simple Google banners it is amazing to see what the internet has to offer.

I understand that the logic built into the Google ad just grabs text from the current page and shows that you can search eBay for anything under the sun, but I would guess stem cells might be one item they might not want to advertise. But as always, I could be wrong...It's just not likely ;).

In honor of the Super Bowl this Sunday, I offer you a short clip from TerrellOwens.com.

Click here to see T.O. doing the Ray Lewis Dance

Oh, and GO BIRDS!

So I am the type of person who does not venture out much in terms of menu variability. When I got to a restaurant, not for the first time, I almost always get the same thing. Most places I visit I have my "go to" order. I know what I am getting when I walk in the door, I do not even require a menu.

I would be remiss if I said I cannot think of any time(s) when this is used against me by friends and/or family. I am given a hard time over simply knowing what I want. If you know a restaurant is good, you go there. If you know an item on the menu is good, would you not get it? Why go out and risk having a bad meal? I do not see the point in it.

I listen to a skipping record in my head that plays, "Why not try something else?" over and over again. Funny how the voice on the recording is my parents, my siblings and my friends all at the same time.

Fine, today I tried something else. I went to a restaurant I enjoy roughly one time each week and ordered something other than what I get normally. When the waitress seats me she asks if I want the usual. (Yes, the usual. Having your own "usual" is a beautiful thing.) Here I have to tell this poor woman that her world is coming to a crashing halt as I am not getting what I always get. She actually thought I was kidding. I ordered something else and she gave me a funny look and asked if I meant it.

"I cannot believe it either," I wanted to tell her.

But I actually went through with it. Do I feel as though I am a better person for it? Not even a little bit. You know what? My lunch was not very good today. My "go to", the USUAL, is significantly better than what I ate today.

Maybe it was psychological. Perhaps I had talked myself out of liking what I got today because it was not my usual. Did you think of that too? YOU'RE WRONG. It was just not as good.

I ate it, sure. I went through with it. To appease you all, I ordered something different. And I will never do it again.

It would appear that Gmail is ready to expand at a more rapid rate. Though account creation is still on an invitation-only basis, the invitations current users are granted have expanded. What has been 3-10 invitations at a time that we are awarded to dole out since Gmail started is now revamped.

Logging into my Gmail this morning as my Gmail Notifier alerted me that I had an e-mail in my inbox I saw this new invitation box. Beyond setting my mom up with her very own Gmail account (finally able to tear her away from a certain company that goes by a simple three letter acronym), I don't know what to do with 50 invitations.

As with before, if you are interested just leave a comment if you're interested in an invitation. If you are worried about the internet boogeyman stealing your e-mail address I won't complain if you send me "name (at) domain (dot) com". And no, I will not use your e-mail address for anything other than sending you your Gmail invite.

As an avid supporter of Google and everything that they do, I am glad to see that Gmail is finally getting off the ground and they are opening it up to more users. It would be nice if I could look forward to a 2005-06 Google Fantasy Football League (hint hint). Add that and streaming audio and I will never have any reason to visit "the competition".

What is good is when it is Thursday afternoon and you suddenly realize that tomorrow is Friday. You think, "Man, this week really flew!"

v.

What is bad is when it is Tuesday night and you finish the leftovers your mom gave you to take home after dinner with your parents a few nights ago and are washing dishes and suddenly you realize it's only Tuesday. Friday could hardly be further away.

It hasn't even been a particularly trying week for me work-wise; especially in comparison to the previous two. It was nice that I was not feeling ambitious this evening. As our meeting came to an end this afternoon/evening my boss asked if I had any crazy plans. I explained to her that if in fact ambitious was how I felt, my big plans tonight meant ironing. With that to look forward to it is certainly hard to imagine how my motivation to iron those shirts disappeared the second I walked through my door.

I am 24 years old. On Monday I did a few loads of laundry. On Tuesday I had planned to iron clothes washed Monday. My god my life is exciting.