...my time in Europe in 1998 had a lot going for it musically. Got to hear a lot of great bands, American, British, French, etc. Quite a few songs to which I related extremely well and listen to to this day to think back upon the amazing time there.
Then there was the cheese pop.
(Ten points for the first person to correctly identify this song! It was a big hit in Europe in May-June 1998 and then a moderate hit in the States in November-ish 1998, if that helps.)
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Comments from Chicago
Just a couple of thoughts from last week's trip...
1. Gina & Dave, thank you so much for opening your house up to us. I had a lot of fun; it was great to see you two & Jenni and Jeff. I may have to buy that bowling game :-).
2. Jenni & Jeff, thank you so much for coming up! It means a lot to me that you made the trek. Jeff, congrats on winning Settlers! Hopefully, we'll get to see each other again soon!
3. Most of you know I'm no fan of suburbs--I'd much rather be in the city. But I do like how Chicago's suburbs are setup. They really compliment the city; they have unique things you don't find in Chicago or other suburbs, such as forest preserves & unique restaurants. As I once heard it put, suburbs in the Northeast "have no soul;" Chicago's at least have some. But I'd still rather be in the city.
4. The hotel I stayed in, the Renaissance Schaumburg, was easily the most technologically advanced hotel I've stayed in. The HD TVs were AWESOME! You haven't lived until you've seen sewage on Discovery's HD Theatre channel :-). But the same channel also had "Sunrise Earth" each morning where they'd spend an hour or two just showing sunrises...amazing. Almost enough to make me go out and buy an HD TV right now. They also had TVs in the bathroom mirror(!) and the fitness machines in the gym. You could also hook up your laptop to display to the TV monitor.
5. Speaking of the hotel, when the clerk checked me in, she saw my # of nights this year and asked, "Do you have a home?" :-)
6. The teaching went well, though I was feeling a bit claustrophobic by the end. It was at a Department of Defense contractor, and as such, Zach (fellow trainer) & I had to be escorted at all times when we were in the building, including to the bathroom. It really does wear on me after a while--I do like having some alone time during the day.
7. Zach & I went into Chicago one night; it's difficult getting there during rush hour! The "reverse commute" concept doesn't seem to apply--traffic's heavy both ways during rush hour. We ended up driving to a far-our stop on the Blue Line and took that in; about 90 minutes in, 60 out. We probably could have saved some time by taking Metra (Chicago's commuter rail), but Zach wanted the real experience on the El. We went up the Sears Tower & then had dinner back at ground level. It was my third time up the Sears Tower, and it never gets old--Chicago has amazing architecture; I love the view when flying in from Lake Michigan.
8. If you like Italian Beef, you have to check out the Cheesy Beef at Zippy's in Schaumburg. If you don't like Italian Beef, you have to check out the Cheesy Beef at Zippy's. If you've never had Italian Beef, you have to check out the Cheesy Beef at Zippy's. If you're vegetarian...well, I won't go that far. But it was GOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDD.
Alright, enough rambling. Later!
1. Gina & Dave, thank you so much for opening your house up to us. I had a lot of fun; it was great to see you two & Jenni and Jeff. I may have to buy that bowling game :-).
2. Jenni & Jeff, thank you so much for coming up! It means a lot to me that you made the trek. Jeff, congrats on winning Settlers! Hopefully, we'll get to see each other again soon!
3. Most of you know I'm no fan of suburbs--I'd much rather be in the city. But I do like how Chicago's suburbs are setup. They really compliment the city; they have unique things you don't find in Chicago or other suburbs, such as forest preserves & unique restaurants. As I once heard it put, suburbs in the Northeast "have no soul;" Chicago's at least have some. But I'd still rather be in the city.
4. The hotel I stayed in, the Renaissance Schaumburg, was easily the most technologically advanced hotel I've stayed in. The HD TVs were AWESOME! You haven't lived until you've seen sewage on Discovery's HD Theatre channel :-). But the same channel also had "Sunrise Earth" each morning where they'd spend an hour or two just showing sunrises...amazing. Almost enough to make me go out and buy an HD TV right now. They also had TVs in the bathroom mirror(!) and the fitness machines in the gym. You could also hook up your laptop to display to the TV monitor.
5. Speaking of the hotel, when the clerk checked me in, she saw my # of nights this year and asked, "Do you have a home?" :-)
6. The teaching went well, though I was feeling a bit claustrophobic by the end. It was at a Department of Defense contractor, and as such, Zach (fellow trainer) & I had to be escorted at all times when we were in the building, including to the bathroom. It really does wear on me after a while--I do like having some alone time during the day.
7. Zach & I went into Chicago one night; it's difficult getting there during rush hour! The "reverse commute" concept doesn't seem to apply--traffic's heavy both ways during rush hour. We ended up driving to a far-our stop on the Blue Line and took that in; about 90 minutes in, 60 out. We probably could have saved some time by taking Metra (Chicago's commuter rail), but Zach wanted the real experience on the El. We went up the Sears Tower & then had dinner back at ground level. It was my third time up the Sears Tower, and it never gets old--Chicago has amazing architecture; I love the view when flying in from Lake Michigan.
8. If you like Italian Beef, you have to check out the Cheesy Beef at Zippy's in Schaumburg. If you don't like Italian Beef, you have to check out the Cheesy Beef at Zippy's. If you've never had Italian Beef, you have to check out the Cheesy Beef at Zippy's. If you're vegetarian...well, I won't go that far. But it was GOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDD.
Alright, enough rambling. Later!
Friday, May 18, 2007
Q3 schedule is out...
...so here we go:
(Note: the first three trips are still in Q2. Just putting them here for completeness.)
May 21-25: Training at a company in Rolling Meadows, IL. Flying out later today! Yay Chicago!
June 4-8: Dallas, TX!
June 18-22: San Diego, CA!! As it turns out, my dad may also be out there!
July 9-13: Houston, TX. I'm not a big fan, but it's still better than, say, Trumbull, CT :-)
July 16-20: Minneapolis, MN!! I'll finally get to go to John Piper's church!
August 13-17: San Diego, CA!! The most surprising one--I thought for sure someone else would get this.
Sept. 11-14: Training at a company in Fort Worth, TX. They suddenly love sending me to the Dallas area--3rd trip to Dallas and 5th trip to Texas this year. BOOO Cowboys!
Sept. 17-21: Cincinnati, OH. Yay.
So another fun quarter coming up. There should be one more trip in August, so we'll see where that ends up being.
In other news, I got my second ever bump yesterday when the Austin to Chicago flight I was on was oversold. Flew American through Dallas instead and got in an hour late. So I got a free ticket on United and avoided a 3 hour flight on a regional jet. Can't complain!
Alright...off to prepare for Chicago :-).
(Note: the first three trips are still in Q2. Just putting them here for completeness.)
May 21-25: Training at a company in Rolling Meadows, IL. Flying out later today! Yay Chicago!
June 4-8: Dallas, TX!
June 18-22: San Diego, CA!! As it turns out, my dad may also be out there!
July 9-13: Houston, TX. I'm not a big fan, but it's still better than, say, Trumbull, CT :-)
July 16-20: Minneapolis, MN!! I'll finally get to go to John Piper's church!
August 13-17: San Diego, CA!! The most surprising one--I thought for sure someone else would get this.
Sept. 11-14: Training at a company in Fort Worth, TX. They suddenly love sending me to the Dallas area--3rd trip to Dallas and 5th trip to Texas this year. BOOO Cowboys!
Sept. 17-21: Cincinnati, OH. Yay.
So another fun quarter coming up. There should be one more trip in August, so we'll see where that ends up being.
In other news, I got my second ever bump yesterday when the Austin to Chicago flight I was on was oversold. Flew American through Dallas instead and got in an hour late. So I got a free ticket on United and avoided a 3 hour flight on a regional jet. Can't complain!
Alright...off to prepare for Chicago :-).
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Response to some comments
Wow! A fair number people have commented since I've started this thing, so I wanted to respond. Thank you, and keep the comments coming! I'm responding in order I remember them.
Keith, re: post about Sweden. Sweden was awesome! But it would take a lot more than one post--I actually kept a blog on our company's internal-only website. I'll see what I can do.
c the maven, re: Relient K. Yay! Another Relient K fan! I'm glad you've seen the light :-). If you like what you hear from them, I strongly recommend checking out their albums The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek and Mmmm Hmmm. I love Relient K, as they've got a great mix of serious/deep songs and humorous songs.
Rusty, re: coming to MCI. Dude, I want to. I really do. Tell ya what: you find people who need to learn how to use MATLAB and are willing to pay to receive said training, and I'll gladly follow up and deliver it :-).
Jenni, re: if I'm coming to IL. Actually, yes! I recently got assigned a training in Rolling Meadows, a Chicago suburb NW of O'Hare. Dates are May 21 - 25. Due to my trip to Austin the week before, I'm not sure if I'll be able to fly Friday & drive down to Champaign like I did last year or not. Would you and Jeff want to come up to Chicagoland that Saturday (5/19)? If they're around, we could get together with Gina & Dave and have a fun night of Phase 10 action!
John K. and Kim C., re: getting together in Baltimore & Dallas, respectively: apologies to both of you. Both trips left me with little to no time to get together :-(. Hopefully next time! (And did you know you could make a Wheel of Fortune-like Before & After puzzle with your names? John Kim Corbett.)
Matt & Leigh Ann, re: Raleigh. The Farmer's Market in Raleigh is cool, so definitely check it out, and make sure to hit the restaurant next to it. If I go back, we'll definitely have to get together!
For all, here's my upcoming schedule:
May 15-18: Austin, TX (may be cut short due to lack of enrollments)
May 21-25: Rolling Meadows, IL
June 4-8: Dallas, TX
June 18-22: San Diego, CA
July-September schedule should be coming out in the next week or two. Highlights include our first ever trip to Fargo, ND!
I'm also planning to take vacation either the week of June 11 or June 25. I'm thinking of going to Seattle, as I've never been there before and I can't seem to get a training there.
And in other news...I've been going to the gym. Yes, me. There is most definitely a God :-)!
Peace out!
Keith, re: post about Sweden. Sweden was awesome! But it would take a lot more than one post--I actually kept a blog on our company's internal-only website. I'll see what I can do.
c the maven, re: Relient K. Yay! Another Relient K fan! I'm glad you've seen the light :-). If you like what you hear from them, I strongly recommend checking out their albums The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek and Mmmm Hmmm. I love Relient K, as they've got a great mix of serious/deep songs and humorous songs.
Rusty, re: coming to MCI. Dude, I want to. I really do. Tell ya what: you find people who need to learn how to use MATLAB and are willing to pay to receive said training, and I'll gladly follow up and deliver it :-).
Jenni, re: if I'm coming to IL. Actually, yes! I recently got assigned a training in Rolling Meadows, a Chicago suburb NW of O'Hare. Dates are May 21 - 25. Due to my trip to Austin the week before, I'm not sure if I'll be able to fly Friday & drive down to Champaign like I did last year or not. Would you and Jeff want to come up to Chicagoland that Saturday (5/19)? If they're around, we could get together with Gina & Dave and have a fun night of Phase 10 action!
John K. and Kim C., re: getting together in Baltimore & Dallas, respectively: apologies to both of you. Both trips left me with little to no time to get together :-(. Hopefully next time! (And did you know you could make a Wheel of Fortune-like Before & After puzzle with your names? John Kim Corbett.)
Matt & Leigh Ann, re: Raleigh. The Farmer's Market in Raleigh is cool, so definitely check it out, and make sure to hit the restaurant next to it. If I go back, we'll definitely have to get together!
For all, here's my upcoming schedule:
May 15-18: Austin, TX (may be cut short due to lack of enrollments)
May 21-25: Rolling Meadows, IL
June 4-8: Dallas, TX
June 18-22: San Diego, CA
July-September schedule should be coming out in the next week or two. Highlights include our first ever trip to Fargo, ND!
I'm also planning to take vacation either the week of June 11 or June 25. I'm thinking of going to Seattle, as I've never been there before and I can't seem to get a training there.
And in other news...I've been going to the gym. Yes, me. There is most definitely a God :-)!
Peace out!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
"Spartan"--Five Iron Frenzy
Billie Holiday on the radio
My sluggish heart is beating seven beats too slow
Another sad song and another shot of blue
Cold and unconcerned are anything but new
He said, “Love endures all things”
And it hurts to think He’s right
If I mark the span of failure
Is His burden just as light?
I am, Spartan
Close my heart so tight
Jesus
Save me
From myself tonight
Limping through the world
There’s a knowing look or two
Is it just the cripples here
Who understand the truth?
Why is love so painful
Why do we always lose
Paving pathways for the lost
The bitter, and recluse?
He said, “Love endures all things”
And it hurts to think it’s true
Did it nail Him on a cross
Did it crucify Him too?
The angels are singing over the plains
The shepherds are quaking, echoing refrains
And all of our slogans designed to take away the pain
Meant nothing to the Son of God that night in Bethlehem...
My sluggish heart is beating seven beats too slow
Another sad song and another shot of blue
Cold and unconcerned are anything but new
He said, “Love endures all things”
And it hurts to think He’s right
If I mark the span of failure
Is His burden just as light?
I am, Spartan
Close my heart so tight
Jesus
Save me
From myself tonight
Limping through the world
There’s a knowing look or two
Is it just the cripples here
Who understand the truth?
Why is love so painful
Why do we always lose
Paving pathways for the lost
The bitter, and recluse?
He said, “Love endures all things”
And it hurts to think it’s true
Did it nail Him on a cross
Did it crucify Him too?
The angels are singing over the plains
The shepherds are quaking, echoing refrains
And all of our slogans designed to take away the pain
Meant nothing to the Son of God that night in Bethlehem...
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