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My Baby's Back
I got my iBook back today and I feel complete again. I'm sort of ashamed to say that I really missed having it, I really did feel as though a part of me was missing. Of course this brings up the issue of being "too attached" to my iBook but screw all of you who wish to bring that up.
In addition to replacing the logic board they also replaced the plastic little foot on the bottom of the computer that I had replaced a while back. Now they all match again.
Now I can catch up on my podcast, because once you use GarageBand you really don't want to use another program. So expect the new podcast to be posted by tomorrow evening.
// posted by stacey on 5:03:00 PM // |
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Thursday, November 24, 2005
Thanksgiving Food
For the past couple of weeks I have been ordering an incredible array of food for Thanksgiving, more than normal and way more than two people should eat. The reason is that this year my mother decided that she was going to make some new dishes. The idea was that since she is retired that all these special dishes would be prepared the day before Thanksgiving. That meant that I would have the actual day of Thanksgiving to make the string bean casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing and the bird. My plan to start all of this was at 9:00am.
Guess what? Mother never cooked anything yesterday and decided to cook them this morning. Not a problem because I figured that we cold share oven time. Still giving us plenty of time to cook the turkey without having to open the oven.
Guess what? My mother can be little inept in the kitchen. She lost the recipe for the chestnut and brussel sprout dish. Thus began the conversation that went something like this.
"I can't find the recipe."
"Well, where did you see it? Was it on Martha?"
"Let me just look over here."
"Did you see it on Martha? Because if it was on her show we can find it on the website."
"I think there was different brussel sprout recipe in Real Simple (magazine)."
"I'm going on Martha's website."
"I'll find one in Real Simple."
"Look I typed in chestnuts on Martha's site and here is the recipe for chestnuts and brussel sprouts."
Now, I'll be the first person to admit that trying a new recipe on the day of Thanksgiving can be a risky prospect but trying a Martha Stewart recipe on thanksgiving is downright terrifying. With my luck I'll need fresh chestnuts imported from Egypt or something. (I don't know if Egypt has chestnuts but you get the idea.) Thankfully (for Thanksgiving) the recipe is pretty simple. The only thing I don"t have is cider vinegar and homemade turkey stock. Thanks, Martha. Who has the time to make homemade turkey stock on Thanksgiving!?! I have another vinegar that will be substituted and the turkey stock will be substituted with chicken stock that comes from a can. Did you hear that Martha? From a can!
The recipe calls for the chestnuts to be cut with an "X" on one side. My mother could not handle this so I ended up doing this and I have a feeling that I'll end up sauteeing them with the brussel sprouts as well to make them perfectly carmelized.
Eventually, I might get to make the turkey.
// posted by stacey on 10:27:00 AM // |
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Friday, November 18, 2005
Biggest Fear?
During this slow time at work (Yes, I am in one of those periods where I finish all of my work by 9:30am)one of my biggest fears is that our IT department will decide to not only SuperScout Blogger but all blogs as well.
Every time I go to a blog or login to post something and the page starts loading real slow I stop breathing. Call it paranoid, but the strangest things get blocked here. Yes, I can understand all the porn sites but some of the bizarre blocks include the New York State Lottery site (I guess because it might be related to gambling), all video feeds from CNN, but not from wnbc.com. Let me not forget all sites that have games and aim express.
I don't want to hear any comments that I should be working and that the work computer is not for enjoyment. If you are thinking that then go back up to the first sentence and read the part about me finishing my work by 9:30am.
// posted by stacey on 9:53:00 AM // |
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Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Orlando Follow-up
Because of my iBook problems I have been slow in organizing and getting all of my Orlando photos touched up in Photoshop and uploaded to flickr. I have put some into a slideshow pre touch-up.
I also have two QuickTime clips that I need to fish out. One is of Mickey and gang riding a double decker bus through Epcot that Noha and I were lucky to catch. The second is a clip from the Fantasmic show at Disney MGM Studios.
Noha and I did three Disney parks in one day; Magic Kingdom, MGM Studios and Epcot. The day went like this.
First we went to Epcot because there was a ferry from our hotel to the park. We had lunch in the Mexico section of Epcot where we saw Mickey and the gang on the bus. Next we headed to the Magic Kingdom via Monorail. Once there we went to Space Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad. One thing to keep in mind is that Orlando is a much bigger vacation spot than Anaheim, this meant that there were more people and longer lines, limiting what we could do if we wanted to go to as many parks as possible.
After Big Thunder Railroad we got our pictures taken with Mickey and Goofy. I can't tell you how much I love Goofy and this made up for last year when we didn't get to see him. After getting our pictures taken we then took a ferry to a bus to get to Disney MGM Studios. When we got there, at about 5:00pm, we didn't realize that the park closed at 7:00pm. We caught the last show of the Indiana Jones Stunt show and then went to Star Tours, the Star Wars ride. By this time it was a quarter to seven and one of the employees told us to hurry because Fantasmic was about to start and in his words, "was a lot better than his ride." I am withholding his ride to protect the innocent. Fantasmic is really cool and almost indescribable. I'll get that clip up tonight.
We then hopped on another bus to go back to Epcot because for Disney resort guests we got to enjoy the park for some extra hours that the general public does not. We had dinner in Morocco and then headed over to Soarin'. One guy who worked there told me that line for this has been 3.5 hours long. Amazing. Soarin' was brought over from Anaheim where it is called Soarin' over California. When I first got to Orlando I was hoping that it had been updated to be Soarin' over Florida but alas its still soarin over California. Still one of my favorite rides but when you have been on it three times the novelty wears off. I'm hoping that by calling it Soarin' they will add the Florida bit and hopefully other things as well.
We ended up getting back to the hotel at about 11:30pm and I had to start packing for my flight back to NYC.
One of the great things about Disney is that no one can really do what they do which is why it brings out the kid in everybody.
// posted by stacey on 9:16:00 AM // |
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Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Post-Congress Depression
Well its not really depression its more like post-traumatic stress syndrome. I left Orlando on Friday morning and was on the most incredibly jam packed plane ever sitting across the aisle from some kid named Manuel whose parents/grandparents couldn't or didn't want to control. To give you an idea the father/grandfather ignored him the whole flight and only acknowledged Manuel when he spilled cranberry juice all over his shirt.
I pretty much spent Friday evening and the entire weekend sleeping. You never seem to realize how much Congress takes out of you until you actually get home.
Now that I am back at work I wish I was at home sleeping because the official post-Congress lull has begun. Yes, my friends, this means more days reading books and, if my iBook works, watching movies. I am praying for the latter because I did not watch one single dvd that I brought on the trip with me.
The book I am currently reading is Mission to America
. It is good but I just haven't been able to get into it as much as I would like to. Perhaps tomorrow will be the day that I really get into it. Please lord let me get into something!
// posted by stacey on 3:27:00 PM // |
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Saturday, November 12, 2005
iBook Issues Again
You know I love Apple to death, but right now they are killing me. The same problem that I experienced with my logic board back in March is happening again. At least I got through my business trip with it.
So now I am furiously backing up everything that I haven't backed up in the past month. I'm pretty regular about backing up, don't forget that.
It now looks as though I will be spending my Sunday in the Apple store to hand over my child once again.
Sigh
// posted by stacey on 11:44:00 AM // |
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Thursday, November 10, 2005
Disney Day
In about 30 minutes Noha and I will be going to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. The thing that really amazes me and always has is that no matter how old I am, I always get a little giddy the day of the visit. I guess that really is the magic of Disney.
I already went walking around the boardwalk here on the hotel property and took a few pictures but I'll have a complete slideshow after today's trip.
The giddiness that I am feeling could be because all of my meetings are over and that I am going home tomorrow. either way I'll take it it has been a long Congress year.
// posted by stacey on 11:47:00 AM // |
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Wednesday, November 09, 2005
My Congress is
officially over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
// posted by stacey on 11:22:00 PM // |
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flip-flops
No, this is not some commentary on politicians. This is just a simple statement that for the rest of the day I will be wearing my flip-flops to the rest of my meetings. We're in Orlando damn it and if joe schmo the organizer can walk into a meeting wearing a t-shirt and shorts I can wear my flip-flops!
I am rebelling for the simple fact that there is not a single soda machine or store here that sells soda, which has left me hitting the mini-bar. Don't like my flip-flops, get me some coke!
// posted by stacey on 2:14:00 PM // |
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Tuesday, November 08, 2005
What I Realized Today
It is never a good idea to tell the story about the Asian guys walking in their suits on the beach when you are surrounded by a bunch of Asian people.
// posted by stacey on 1:43:00 PM // |
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A Tale Worth Telling
I was beginning to wonder what was going on at this year's Congress because I hadn't heard any juicy tales, aside from Rich finding the poisonous snake in one of the hallways (so he says).
This all changed last night at the opening reception for the exhibits. While I was talking to Punter and Scerbo, Scerbo asks, "Mary Grace brought her children?" I reply, "Yeah, they're all at the conference." As it turns out Scerbo wasn't asking a question but making a statement, "Mary Grace brought her children." The next thing I know there is MGS and the kids. She brought them because it would be fun to see the exhibits. Yeah, exhibits of mechanical engineering books is really fun.
Then MGS let go of her children's hands and they start running wild, literally rolling on the floor and screaming their heads off. T.J. the eldest runs over to one of the easels and started to take the giant foam core board off. I should point out here that Chrissy was correct when she said they have giant foreheads.
The great part was when Punter yelled out, "Oh my God who brought their children, this is so embarassing!"
After this I finally got some more good staff yelling at staff stories. On Sunday at one of the meetings there were 15 chairs set up in the meeting room, the number that was specified on the form given to Punter and Scerbo. MGS freaked out and said, "No, no we always have 30 people. You need to get us more chairs." Scerbo told MGS and now Colin that, "Your form only requested 15." Collin, the Congress virgin, actually had the nerve to tell them that, "It was their duty to make sure that people provided the correct information."
You know at the staff briefing we have every year our executive director always mentions what to do when the attendees/members start yelling at you. I think he really needs to change this approach and start addressing when staff yells at staff.
// posted by stacey on 8:51:00 AM // |
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Monday, November 07, 2005
Asian guys
There is just something wrong when every time I see guys in their full suits and blue ASME bags walking along the beach that they are always Asian. The white guys are in ill fitting khaki's and sneakers. But that blue ASME bag & badge are always present.
// posted by stacey on 1:28:00 PM // |
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Dolphin?
Last night at dinner, Colin was deciding what to eat and asked what Mahi Mahi was. We explained to him that it is a white fish, in particular dolphin fish. This is what Mahi Mahi used to be called before people got confused and thought that it was dolphin, as in Flipper. In fact there is no relation -- Colin and Flipper are not related at all.This brought up the interesting discussion about the architecture of our hotel, the Dolphin. At first thought you would think that it is named after the Flipper-like creature. But from the logo and this picture it appears that this is not the case. It is actually named after the dolphin fish.
So technically I am staying at the Walt Disney World Mahi Mahi.
// posted by stacey on 10:37:00 AM // |
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The Responsible One
So finally yesterday afternoon my Congress officially started.
I saw Kim and she told me her latest tales of being yelled at by fellow staff. This is actually a more frequent occurance than being yelled at by the actual attendees. Another one of the reason why I am happy that I amo no longer in the Meetings Dept.
One of the things I was reminded about yesterday is that without Cynthia being here I am the only person here with answers. I am the answer lady. In one of my meetings I was wondering why I was the one being asked all the questions and I realized it was becasue that I was the only staff person in this meeting, which should not be the case. A few minutes later I heard Rich's voice a few seats down and was like "Oh, I'm not the only staff person here, wait actually I am."
Last night was also our publishing dinner. The back story about this is that PVD left it up to John to pick the place and make the reservations. PVD had suggested that we meet at 7:00pm. Cynthia suggested that we go off the Disney property for dinner. A good idea especially when you are going to be stuck on a Disney property the entire time. So we all picked a place and John made the reservation for 7:30pm. Thus began the flurry of emails from MGS.
I have included them below.
Why so late? I thought we said 7pm. - From MGS
There's a 125th Anniversary reception @ 6:30 p.m.
If you guys want to get there at 7, I can just meet you there. No biggie. - From John
Let me know if you prefer 7 to 7:30 (I do), and I will change the reservation. - From MGS
I have a meeting that ends at 7 so I would prefer 7:30. - From me
It looks like we are keeping the reservation at 7:30. May I request that we all try to meet by 7:15, so that we can at least get to the restaurant by 7:30? - From MGS
This was agreed upon and John and I exchanged cell numbers because we would most likey be the ones running late. As expected my meeting went over and ended at 7:10pm. Between 7:10pm and 7:15pm I had to make arrangements with Kim to schedule another meeting and pee. It ended up that I was the last one and showed up at 7:20, something I had been joking about but was actually more realistic.
Dinner was nice, good food and good drinks and the company wasn't all that bad. Thank you John!
The restaurant was about 15-20 minutes from the hotel and while we were waiting for the cab to take us back MGS started up with the let bash Cynthia moment. The conversation went like this.
"Tom (her husband) called and said that he wanted to go MGM studios because it was opened late. This is why I was pushing for the earlier time."
I went on about how people staying at resorts get to go to a Disney theme park.
"You know this place is so far away and we had to eat here because Cynthia didn't want eat at a Disney property hotel and she isn't even here."
These comments that MGS makes about people are expected and even the ones about Cynthia. But the thing is that she knows I work for Cynthia, she knows that Cynthia's staff are loyal too her. But there is absolutely no filter on this woman to stop her from making dumb ass comments.
I explained that since Cynthia and I were expected to be attending meetings all week it was important for us to get out of the hotel and the Disney property because it is easy to forget waht the outside world looks like at a conference.
ARGH, thankfully I don't have to see that woman again until I get back to New York.
// posted by stacey on 8:30:00 AM // |
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Sunday, November 06, 2005
The Sun
Even though it has unseasonably warm in New York this time of year, I can't tell you enough about how great it is to be poolside in really warm florida sun!
// posted by stacey on 11:44:00 AM // |
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Gadgets that Made the Trip
While I am waiting for room service to come and pick up my breakfast dishes before I go poolside I thought I would tell you what gadgets made the trip with me and not in any particular order.
- 1 iBook G4
- Cannon Powershot A520 digital camera
- 1 Mighty Mouse
- 1 ethernet cable (which I do not need because the hotel provides on in the room)
- 1 firewire to iPod dock with power adapter
- 1 60GB photo iPod (do I really go anywhere without this?)
- 1 iMic adapter
- 1 microphone and cable (you know I'm doing an Orlando edition of scoops the podcast)
- 1 vga cable (in case I have to an unplanned presentation)
- 1 Nokia 3650 cellphone (again, never go anywhere without this)
There might be some additional things but I can't really remember right now and I'm getting pissed that no one has shown up to pick up these damn dishes. After all they make this big deal about requesting that we don't leave them in the hall but if they aren't here soon that's what I'm doing. They are cutting into my sun!
// posted by stacey on 10:04:00 AM // |
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About Last Night
In my haste to get up a post last night I forgot to mention a very important item -- the bed.
The Disney Dolphin is a Starwood property and most Starwood properties have the Heavenly Bed. This property does and advertises it as such. However, what I failed to mention lat night while describing my suite is that I have a Murphy bed, you know the kind that folds up into the wall. This is because they probably use this suite as meeting space. Well let me tell ya something they don't make Heavenly Beds for Murphy beds.
Getting to sleep last night was an adventure. I was so hungry that I had to order room service at 9:30. The rotisserie chicken with asparagus and mashed potatoes rocks, btw.
If you noticed by the pictures the tv is located on one end of the room, the living room, and the now famous non-Heavenly Bed Murphy bed is located all the way at the other. Knowing it would take me a while to actually fall asleep I decided to try and watch tv while in bed. First I had to move all the chairs in the dining room so as not to block my view. Changing channels involved raising my arm way up in the air and hoping maybe the remote would work. Thankfully one of the things I can count is that one of the three Law & Order shows will be on any given channel at any time of day.
Sleeping ended up being its own adventure. The non-Heavenly Bed Murphy bed is short. I'm barely 5'8", but my feet were hanging off the bed. Then there was that damn clock radio. Every few hours for no reason and for no reason I mean that the alarm was not set, I mean there was no reason for what happened. At these odd intervals there would be static. Not loud static but just enough so that it woke you up. Hitting the off button didn't work and turning the volume down didn't seem to have any affect. Then depending on where my body was physically located it would either get louder or softer. I tried unplugging it but the plug reached somewhere into the space where the non-Heavenly Bed Murphy bed went into. After trying a few combinations of button hitting it would eventually stop. Then it would happen a few hours later. I'll try and get a recording of it tonight. But all I have to say is thank God I'm not a schizophrenic, because I was definitely hearing voices in that shit.
// posted by stacey on 8:14:00 AM // |
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Saturday, November 05, 2005
Congress Day 1
Well I have made it to Orlando. The flight was pretty cool, the two and half hours went by pretty quickly.
I met Phil in baggage claim at the Orlando airport but then lost him somehow later, I guess he didn't want to take the shuttle bus with me. Oh well, his loss.
Then of course it figures that I end up sitting behind three people who will be attending the conference. I heard stories about advisory boards, tractors and mowing 2 acre properties. They even mentioned the name of one of my program chairs from last year which scared me a wee bit.
Before I left I knew that Punter was going to hook me up with amenities, but I did not expect to walk into a suite that is larger than most apartments in NYC. You can view the slideshow of my room here. Incredible is all I have to say.
Tomorrow will begin with a visit to the grotto or beach (haven't decided which one yet) followed by a couple of meetings and the publishing dinner.
// posted by stacey on 10:27:00 PM // |
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Friday, November 04, 2005
Congress
It is that time of year when the best and brightest mechanical engineers head off to the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. This year it will be in sunny Orlando. When we were there in 2000, I only got to stay the weekend because I had just started graduate school.
Reflecting on that time two things amaze me: 1. I actually went down there for a weekend to stuff registration envelopes (I think there were even some paper cuts involved) and 2. I still work for the same company (not that I am complaining).
This time around I am staying for pretty much the entire week and will actually have some free time to bask in the sun and go to Disney World. Promotions, my friend, are nice.
There will be no cbc because of her little cycling accident so I have found a backup Disney Buddy (yeah Noha!).
As always there will be regular updates, in code, because I really do like having a job. Of course there will also be pictures.
We're staying at one of the best properties in Disney World with those wonderful Heavenly Beds. The hotel has a grotto and amazing places to relax and hide from fellow staff and volunteers.
I am finally getting excited for this trip again!
// posted by stacey on 12:21:00 PM // |
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Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Did My Money Pay for That?
The wonderful guy (yeah, I know many of you thought I would never ever start a post with those three words!) who mows my grass, trims the hedges and rakes the leaves has a real job. During the day he watches his young daughter when his wife is at work and then when she gets home he drives a cab. For most of the summer he had been complaining that he was spending more money fixing his old cab and should really get a new one.
Today when I got off the train I saw a nice new cab that I had not ever laid eyes on before. Of course, when I got it in it I discovered that it was my lawn boy. I know its not like you could see that one coming. It is a very nice car. The type you expect a real bonafide car service company to have. Port Chester doesn't actually have yellow cabs, btw.
While on the way to my house I couldn't help but wonder how much of my money contributed to the purchase of the car. If it did in any way I'm happy because it is a hell of a nice ride and my ass enjoyed it. The again if it did, I'm paying him way too much.
// posted by stacey on 6:26:00 PM // |
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