great idea #79

it's a well-known fact that guys like nothing more than to see chicks get naked, preferably real life girls as opposed to in porn - agreed?

so here is a surefire method of making sure that happens.
put a weighing scale in your living room.
preferably the kind you have to bend over to read the numbers.

i hear you asking me how the two statements above are related? well, no self-respecting gal who cares about her weight will ever get on a scale with her clothes on.

funny, this idea sounded much better yesterday after five beers.. hmm

so, i got a little story for you

yes i'm back.. unfortunately. actually i was back on sunday afternoon, and even went into work on sunday night. work has been so hectic this week that i haven't really been able to revel in the memories of the now-distant florida trip, let alone type out a few lines of the blog..

i'd like to give you all the details of the trip but what happens in vegas florida stays in vegas florida.. heh! i will admit a few things though - yes, i had lots of fun, a bit too much fun if you ask me! the meetings were great too, lots got dicussed and the positive contribution of the junior members of staff was duly noted.

heartfelt thanks and sincerest apologies to two particular establishments that we haunted.. Flanigan's and the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel, both in Deerfield Beach. we would love to be back next year, as long as you promise to make the same awesome wings and ribs, and let us commandeer your bar and ballroom again!

to AirTran.. your cheap fares and on-time flights are negated by your refusing-to-recline tiny seats and poor baggage handling staff. the only reason you are still in business is the free XM Satellite Radio and the fact the other airlines can be equally horrendous!

the 7-Eleven franchise, especially in florida - kudos for being open to sell beer until 2am, just when all the bars are closing. and for having my favorite Hall's cough drops too. and also for acknowledging that by no figment of the imagination do i look under 21 and therefore not bothering to card me.

mom-n-pop diners, non-chain rib shacks and other small eateries - you guys are the best.. for honest to goodness food at ridiculous prices, even in tourist-dense markets like florida.

casinos in florida suck. they only have slot machines and poker tables. what happened to the craps, and the blackjack, and all the other traditional casino attractions like cabarets? the Seminole Hard Rock Casino was especially bad! i'm glad i didn't throw away too much of my money on you!

airboat tour operators in the sawgrass area - your loud boats are still an environmental pestilence, despite all your bragging about ecotourism. what is described in this article here has to be the biggest crap ever, as the boats are so loud that they frighten all living beings in the vicinity deep into the 3 foot tall sawgrass or the 2 foot deep swamp.

riding down the intercoastal at night on the GM's 48 ft yacht, looking at the huge houses and boats of the rich and famous has to be one of the most inspiring and awesome things i have ever done. when you're done slowly rolling up your tongue and lifting your lower jaw from the deck, you have to wonder how people make so much money as to be able to afford such lifestyles!! kudos to anyone who did it, even if it took selling drugs to get there!

boy i'm glad i don't tan/burn easy.. cos hanging out at the beach was a lot of fun. the jury is still hung whether watching beach volleyball is better than playing beach volleyball, but the verdict is definitely all in that bikinis were made with brazilian women in mind. yum.

getting drunk might be overrated, but there is a particularly morbid entertainment in getting drunk with your colleagues and superiors. that is taken to the next level when you end up taking full advantage of the open-bar, to the tune of 20+ drinks. the pretty bartender sure made a lot of tips, i felt i owed her after emptying two bottles of her finest rum, and all the shots she's making here. oh yes, that's my boss on the bar, trying to upstage me at my not-so-finest hour! i was told the next day that i had sat his boss down too and explained very loudly what my master plan was to knock the place shipshape again. i'm only glad he holds grudges as often as i hold hangovers! i am still amazed at how it took only two Tylenol and a bottle of Gatorade to get me bouncing back to form at 5 the next morning!

finally, one thing that you cannot ever get over is how beautiful the sunrise can be. this shot below is worth slogging your butt off now so that you make enough money to be able to wake up to this every morning..

to warmer climes!

maybe this is where my year takes a turn for the better.. am off to florida in the next couple of hours for some seriously needed r&r.

it's not actually a holiday.. the company is having the annual offsite managers' meeting down there, but hey, i just need an excuse to get out of these -2F° temperatures we've been having here! deep-sea fishing, casinos, drinks, sunshine and hot chicas.. all on the company tab.. cannot complain!

the year so far

i hope the year 2007 is working out for you cos sure as hell it ain't working for me! this is the third time i'm trying to write this post and it would sure as hell help if damned Firefox wouldn't keep crashing and not allow me to recover post either.. *(&*^$%$%^#.. sure as hell, this year has not improved at all from how 2006 ended.. if anything things have just gotten crappier! ok, now no more hell metaphors.

work-wise this year officially sucks. every day in every way things do not improve. with the last couple of four-day weeks we've had, production runs twenty two hours a day, so the 3rd shift maintenance team that i head has had no time to do jackshit! so much work to do, and funnily enough even in winter, which is the down season, no time to do it in! every day i plod into work before midnight, readying myself for yet another night of misery.. sometimes i've been so busy that between getting to work and hanging my jacket on the coathanger and leaving some 12 hours later, all i get time to do is grab a polystyrene cup of not-so-fresh java and a quick couple of puffs on Mr. Camel Lights..

with the holiday mentality still in the air, plant efficiencies have gone to crap. sometimes i've had to crack the management whip.. but if you know me, you also know that i'm not the kind of manager who tries to wear the do-what-i-tell-you-to-do suit, but unfortunately there are times i have to..

my health has gone for a bit of a toss too.. i've had a lingering cough and cold for the last couple of weeks, and sleep has been an elusive mistress, even more elusive than usual. i've even stopped smoking everything for a bit, but yet as soon as i lay my head down to sleep every day the coughing fits that kick in have been keeping me restless. during the night at work i keep hawking up gobs of nasty phlegm, but it's only when i hit the bed that it really buggers me. and not only has sleep been affected, but whenever we're in the mood for some horizontal salsa, the humpin' n' pumpin' has been tainted by stops for huffin' n' puffin' as i try to catch my breath and keep up the pace!

in fact, i barely managed to do any partying during the new year's eve and the subsequent happy birthday's celebrations.. which kinda sucked! i didn't really feel like i was dying, although i was really glad to cross the threshold of 27 and move into 28.. considering so many of the icons of the rock n' roll lifestyle kicked the bucket during that fateful twenty seventh year.. Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin..

so that's that, i'm still waiting on this year 2007 to turn a new leaf and better itself and my life too.. how's your year looking so far?!

and that was 2006..

Happy New Year everyone, and yes, it's annual 'catchup with s!' time again.. so if you've been hiding under a rock all year and haven't been in touch, this is me letting you know how it went.. (previous rehashes here - 2004 & 2005)

January -
- went to Detroit for a short holiday and the Auto Show
- started writing the final draft of the thesis

February -
- quit my student job at the library to focus fulltime on the thesis

March -
- went to Cleveland to watch the UB Bulls in the basketball playoffs
- finally defended my MS thesis and officially graduated

April -
- went hiking in the Allegany Mountains
- went to Boston on a short holiday, and got a job there

May -
- packed up and moved to Boston to start working at Pepsi
- went to a Pearl Jam concert, yet another long-lived dream

June -
- the soccer World Cup started
- cherry-picking season came early this year!

July -
- Italy won the World Cup!

August -
- got my first promotion at work

September -
- football season started - i'd go on to win a few hundred bucks in the office pool
- went to a Tool concert, and yet another long-lived dream

October -
- went back to Buffalo for Sank's bachelor party
- went to an Alice In Chains concert, my third dream-come-true band this year

November -
- finally got digital cable, so that i could watch my beloved Buffalo Sabres
- cooked my first full Thanksgiving dinner, what a lot of food!

December -
- first office Christmas party - acquitted myself quite well, didn't get drunk!

thank you to everyone who dropped by with birthday wishes, the good thoughts are much appreciated.. muchos gracias!