This coming Saturday I will be heading to the American Airlines arena to see the Miami Heat play the 76ers. This will be my first NBA game ever. I was never much of a Knicks fan when I lived in CT and there wasn't anything worth seeing in Tampa. The only reason I'm going is because its free. My wife's job provided some tickets so I figure why not, it should be fun!
I won't be buying any Heat gear or anything like that but I'm hoping that the experience will be similar to the excitement of college basketball.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Texas De Brazil!
This past Saturday was Valentines Day and my wife decided that we should try some place new in Miami Beach. Of course by the logo you can tell where we went. This is a brief account of our experience there.
OK so first off we had reservations at 7:45PM for dinner. I raced down I-75 and I-95 to make it there on time and actually got there with about a minute to spare. There was a huge line just to get in the door and even if you had a reservation you had to wait to get to the front of the line to talk to the people arranging the seating. My wife called ahead and we knew that we would have to wait a little bit to get seated but not 45 minutes. Thats just crazy when you have reservations even if it is a holiday. We were also given the not so good seats at the edge of the restaurant near the front door so we saw all the people coming and going from the place.
Our server was polite and told us we could help ourselves to the salad bar which is one of the big things about Texas De Brazil. The salad bar didn't disappoint at all and there was quite a selection. I was all about the salami's and the cheese but I also had some sushi and the lobster bisque. Now the whole place is about the meats which is from sausages, to steak, lamb, pork, and chicken. My wife and I saw these people running around with huge sticks of meat but none of them would come to our table. We also didn't get the side orders that were supposed to come with the meal so we just kinda sat there for a bit until a waiter came over and asked us if we got our meat course yet. Of course we said "Nope we don't know how this works because no one explained it to us".
Apparently, the thing I was going to use as a coaster was an indicator for the servers to start bringing the meats around for us to try. An example is the one in this blog post. Green means yeah bring it baby I want meat! Red means Nope I've had enough for now maybe later. The thing with me and my wife is that ours were set to red which is why the servers were ignoring us for the longest time. Once we flipped those bad boys over it was on! We each had the steak and lamb (I'm not a big fan of lamb but I figured why not). I don't think we had the pork or the chicken but I know that I had the sausage links. The sides they gave us were fried bananas (yum) and some excellent mashed potatoes. It has been a really long time since I've eaten that much and I was definitely overly stuffed with food.
We ate so much that we had no more room for dessert. I wanted to try one but I thought better of it and I don't think it would have been a good to make myself even more full than I already was. There was some entertainment as well during dinner in the form of loud music and some Brazilian dancers. We couldn't get a good look at them due to our crappy table location. Although there were some tables that were set up by the kitchen which seemed even worse than where we were because you would see all the food just floating by you along with all the dirty dishes.
All in all, the night wasn't so bad. The food was excellent but the service needs some attention. One area I would recommend for the employees is to always explain what the stupid coaster like thing is for so your customer's don't sit there wondering why they're not getting any food at their table. Well that was V-Day in a nut shell!
OK so first off we had reservations at 7:45PM for dinner. I raced down I-75 and I-95 to make it there on time and actually got there with about a minute to spare. There was a huge line just to get in the door and even if you had a reservation you had to wait to get to the front of the line to talk to the people arranging the seating. My wife called ahead and we knew that we would have to wait a little bit to get seated but not 45 minutes. Thats just crazy when you have reservations even if it is a holiday. We were also given the not so good seats at the edge of the restaurant near the front door so we saw all the people coming and going from the place.
Our server was polite and told us we could help ourselves to the salad bar which is one of the big things about Texas De Brazil. The salad bar didn't disappoint at all and there was quite a selection. I was all about the salami's and the cheese but I also had some sushi and the lobster bisque. Now the whole place is about the meats which is from sausages, to steak, lamb, pork, and chicken. My wife and I saw these people running around with huge sticks of meat but none of them would come to our table. We also didn't get the side orders that were supposed to come with the meal so we just kinda sat there for a bit until a waiter came over and asked us if we got our meat course yet. Of course we said "Nope we don't know how this works because no one explained it to us".
Apparently, the thing I was going to use as a coaster was an indicator for the servers to start bringing the meats around for us to try. An example is the one in this blog post. Green means yeah bring it baby I want meat! Red means Nope I've had enough for now maybe later. The thing with me and my wife is that ours were set to red which is why the servers were ignoring us for the longest time. Once we flipped those bad boys over it was on! We each had the steak and lamb (I'm not a big fan of lamb but I figured why not). I don't think we had the pork or the chicken but I know that I had the sausage links. The sides they gave us were fried bananas (yum) and some excellent mashed potatoes. It has been a really long time since I've eaten that much and I was definitely overly stuffed with food.
We ate so much that we had no more room for dessert. I wanted to try one but I thought better of it and I don't think it would have been a good to make myself even more full than I already was. There was some entertainment as well during dinner in the form of loud music and some Brazilian dancers. We couldn't get a good look at them due to our crappy table location. Although there were some tables that were set up by the kitchen which seemed even worse than where we were because you would see all the food just floating by you along with all the dirty dishes.
All in all, the night wasn't so bad. The food was excellent but the service needs some attention. One area I would recommend for the employees is to always explain what the stupid coaster like thing is for so your customer's don't sit there wondering why they're not getting any food at their table. Well that was V-Day in a nut shell!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
All hail the hotel foam pillow!
This week I made a recent change to my preferences for Marriott, instead of the usual feather pillows I opted for foam pillows. And you know what? A magical thing happened to me, I was able to get a full nights sleep without waking up in the middle of the night. I think my previous problem with getting a good nights rest was because I didn't have support for my head while I was sleeping and I was generally uncomfortable.I don't think I can choose foam pillows for Hilton but for right now its not like I'm going to be staying there any time in the near future. Ahh here's to a good nights rest while on the road....
Just when I thought I could leave Verizon
About a year ago Verizon bought out a regional cell carrier that was pretty popular here in the dirty South called Alltel. Alltel had this promotion where you could call 5 people for free on any network. It's pretty similar to a plan offered by T-Mobile who does the same thing. I think this type of plan is great because both of my parents don't have Verizon and I end up burning minutes when I have to talk them.
There is a catch to this new Friends and Family plan, you have to be on a $900 minute plan which costs about $60. Thats a whole lot of money for a cell plan, at that price I think I would get rid of my land line.
Anyway, now I have to reconsider my options for my cell phone plan. The Treo Pro might come to Verizon in 2010 but thats a really long time away considering it just became 2009. I'm still leaning towards AT&T just to change things up and to get the phone I want sooner. We'll see what happens come May.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Cell Phone Contracts are sooo long!
I went online today to make sure of the date that my contract ends. It looks like Verizon is offering new every 2 phones way earlier than 22 months. My contract doesn't end until May but they said I was eligible in January. Thats around 20 months which isn't bad, but they still don't have any phones that I want to buy.
Maybe by May there might be a phone that will fit my requirements but I highly doubt it. I still think I'm going to make the switch even though I'll be paying more money for more minutes and roll over.
What stinks even more is that my wife's plan doesn't end until November which is CRAZY! Too bad she has to wait until then. If I'm not in a caring mood maybe I'll wait until November so we can get phones together so there isn't this huge gap between her contract and mine. Only time will tell!
Maybe by May there might be a phone that will fit my requirements but I highly doubt it. I still think I'm going to make the switch even though I'll be paying more money for more minutes and roll over.
What stinks even more is that my wife's plan doesn't end until November which is CRAZY! Too bad she has to wait until then. If I'm not in a caring mood maybe I'll wait until November so we can get phones together so there isn't this huge gap between her contract and mine. Only time will tell!
Monday, February 09, 2009
Finally making the switch
After ten years I think I'm finally going to take the plunge and go with AT&T Wireless. I've been a loyal customer of Verizon before they were even Verizon (I think I have my old phone somewhere at my mom's house). I'm due for a new phone already using the New Every Two program but the phone selection for Verizon over the past few years has been pretty terrible. I haven't used a regular phone for at least 4 years and although I enjoy using the Palm platform its time to change things up a bit.I've done some price comparisons and I will end up paying a little bit more for twice the minutes. I'm also getting the freedom to get whatever GSM phone I want which is totally sweet. With Verizon I was pretty much trapped with whatever selection Verizon offered me because they were using CDMA. I think I've taken a while to switch simply because of laziness and because before they allowed you to take your phone number with you I was reluctant to switch because I didn't want to change my number. I've said bad things about AT&T in the past but I figure I might as well try them and see for myself. I plan on getting the Treo Pro unlocked GSM phone once my contract is up. I will pay an arm and a leg for the phone but I can use it wherever I want just by switching out the SIM card. I could also get the iPhone if I really wanted to buy I already have an iPod Touch so why bother? Besides I'm still not sold on the whole touch screen keyboard anyway.
My wife is also going to be switching but she has to wait a bit longer to get a new phone but she has picked out the BlackBerry Bold as her next phone. Only time will tell if she'll do it but I think she will because its just so purty. LOL!
Well its getting late so its time to finish up and get to bed for another rousing day of work!
Sunday, February 08, 2009
New Asics: GT 2140
This is a picture of the sneakers I ordered from Zappos on Friday. I originally ordered the Asics Gel Kayano 14's but they were too small (which was surprising considering I always order a size 8). The GT 2140 is the upgrade to a shoe I got before that I thought hurt my feet but it was really because it was laced up too tight, the GT 2130.
So I decided to order the 2140's in a size 8.5 to see if they would fit better. I'm still not sure if these are going to be my home sneakers or my travel sneakers. Normally I don't have that many pairs of sneakers but I've gotten a bit tired of always packing and unpacking my sneakers from my suitcase so I can work out at the gym or just go for long walks with my wife.
I'll have to buy some orthotics for these sneakers as well but thats not a big deal really. The cool thing is that I will get the sneakers on Monday, the bad thing is is that I'll already be in Atlanta when they arrive. If I'm up to it I'll add a post after I've tried these bad boys at the gym.
My sanctuary at 35,000 Feet
As you can see in the picture, this is what I take to work each week when I'm going to Atlanta. Pretty spiffy isn't it? Believe it or not, this is one of my sanctuaries these days from the turmoil that surrounds me at work. Another one of those being my car or being at home for the weekend but anyway, thats the not the point of this post.
I've been reading some stuff on my favorite news sites that airlines are starting to bring the joy of wifi onto airplanes. This technology isn't new or anything and a few airlines have been doing it for a bit but the advent of wifi intruding on my commute to work may very well eliminate one of my sanctuaries from work. There is a fear that the ability to connect wireless while at 35,000 feet will make companies expect people to work on the plane. Granted, your typical flight to a client is a bit longer than a drive to the office but they certainly don't expect people to work while driving (some people probably take conference calls or something while on the road and I don't think thats a good idea when you're driving).
I know a good many people that do use the time in the air to accomplish some work but for me this is a place to NOT work or even think of doing work. At most, I pull out my Treo and make notes in it for personal reasons like music I want to get for my iPod, shopping lists, and maybe some To Do items that I have to accomplish. Other than that, I don't even pull out my laptop at the airport unless I know I'm going to be delayed for a good long time and I certainly don't get it out for my flights.
I'm glad for the airlines that need to prop up their revenue streams and what not but I'm hoping that companies will not put an expectation on American workers to start logging in at 35,000 feet, we as a country already work a lot and don't get enough PTO or time with our families... for those of us that use it as a sanctuary let us keep it and not let work intrude in yet another area of our lives.
I've been reading some stuff on my favorite news sites that airlines are starting to bring the joy of wifi onto airplanes. This technology isn't new or anything and a few airlines have been doing it for a bit but the advent of wifi intruding on my commute to work may very well eliminate one of my sanctuaries from work. There is a fear that the ability to connect wireless while at 35,000 feet will make companies expect people to work on the plane. Granted, your typical flight to a client is a bit longer than a drive to the office but they certainly don't expect people to work while driving (some people probably take conference calls or something while on the road and I don't think thats a good idea when you're driving).
I know a good many people that do use the time in the air to accomplish some work but for me this is a place to NOT work or even think of doing work. At most, I pull out my Treo and make notes in it for personal reasons like music I want to get for my iPod, shopping lists, and maybe some To Do items that I have to accomplish. Other than that, I don't even pull out my laptop at the airport unless I know I'm going to be delayed for a good long time and I certainly don't get it out for my flights.
I'm glad for the airlines that need to prop up their revenue streams and what not but I'm hoping that companies will not put an expectation on American workers to start logging in at 35,000 feet, we as a country already work a lot and don't get enough PTO or time with our families... for those of us that use it as a sanctuary let us keep it and not let work intrude in yet another area of our lives.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Parking in Miami - How Funny!
This just happened I'd say 15 minutes ago. I got a call from the Miami Parking authority to talk about a parking space I had put in a request for and they wanted to know if I was still interested in the space. I think I did a pretty good job of not laughing at the person on the other line but inside I was snickering a little bit.
Just to give all of you some background (like anyone reads this), I put in for a parking space with the Miami Parking authority 2 years ago when I was still at another company and working in downtown Miami. I only worked in downtown for 4 or 5 months but in that time I really burned through a lot of money for parking and tolls. If you look in some of my 2006 and early 2007 posts I'm sure I'm ranting and raving about it. When all is said and done, the city of Miami still has the cheapest parking around. I think I was paying somewhere in the ball park of at least $185 at this really nasty garage and I was able to cut it down to $110 when I switched to a garage that was attached to a Courtyard Marriott because someone at my old company decided to leave and they gave me their space.
I don't know what the going rates are now but I'm sure they aren't cheap. I'm kind of glad that I'm not commuting there anymore, I don't think I could take all the stress of driving downtown and then trying to find a parking space with full realization that I'm totally getting fleeced. Anyway, that brought a nice smile to my face today. HA! OK thats it for now, maybe I'll be more motivated to blog next week.
Just to give all of you some background (like anyone reads this), I put in for a parking space with the Miami Parking authority 2 years ago when I was still at another company and working in downtown Miami. I only worked in downtown for 4 or 5 months but in that time I really burned through a lot of money for parking and tolls. If you look in some of my 2006 and early 2007 posts I'm sure I'm ranting and raving about it. When all is said and done, the city of Miami still has the cheapest parking around. I think I was paying somewhere in the ball park of at least $185 at this really nasty garage and I was able to cut it down to $110 when I switched to a garage that was attached to a Courtyard Marriott because someone at my old company decided to leave and they gave me their space.
I don't know what the going rates are now but I'm sure they aren't cheap. I'm kind of glad that I'm not commuting there anymore, I don't think I could take all the stress of driving downtown and then trying to find a parking space with full realization that I'm totally getting fleeced. Anyway, that brought a nice smile to my face today. HA! OK thats it for now, maybe I'll be more motivated to blog next week.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Buying shoes online
I would say that I've been buying shoes online for about a year now, maybe two and I'd say that my results have been mixed. My latest acquisition is another pair of sneakers so that I don't have to always unpack my sneakers on the weekends from my suitcase.
Since I have always wanted to try them, I tried to get myself a pair of Nike+ Triax 12 sneakers. I decided to get them from Foot Action since they had a 20% off coupon online and because Zappos was a little more expensive. The only down side was that I had to pay for shipping but I didn't care because I thought that the sneakers would fit me. Well lo and behold the sneakers didn't fit but I would have had to eat another $6.99 in shipping costs to send it back. I did find a clause that would allow me to return it to the store but the one near me wouldn't take it back. I had to drive all the way to another store in Sunrise in order to return the sneakers. I still lost $6.99 because of the shipping I had to pay to get the shoes in the first place but its a small thing really in the grand scheme of things.
Now I got another pair of Asics but this time I went ahead and ordered them from Zappos. The sneakers I got were a bit on the expensive side but from past experience Zappos has always been better. I got an email today saying that they upgraded my shipping to next day which is awesome! This will be the third time that I've bought shoes from them and every time they have shown outstanding customer service, even when I wanted to return shoes and get a different pair.
Traditional shoe stores somehow don't do it for me anymore. Every time I've gone they never have the shoes that I want or the size that I need. All the shoes that I want to get are all online but never in the store so its hard for me to try them on to see if I like them. Also some of the brands I use like Ecco are not readily available in most shoe stores so I have no choice but to use online stores. Even though it is more expensive, I think Zappos will be me go to store for footware. Next day shipping and free returns if I don't like them can't be beat. OK I'm done blogging for tonight, maybe I'll blog some more tomorrow if I'm feeling the urge.
Since I have always wanted to try them, I tried to get myself a pair of Nike+ Triax 12 sneakers. I decided to get them from Foot Action since they had a 20% off coupon online and because Zappos was a little more expensive. The only down side was that I had to pay for shipping but I didn't care because I thought that the sneakers would fit me. Well lo and behold the sneakers didn't fit but I would have had to eat another $6.99 in shipping costs to send it back. I did find a clause that would allow me to return it to the store but the one near me wouldn't take it back. I had to drive all the way to another store in Sunrise in order to return the sneakers. I still lost $6.99 because of the shipping I had to pay to get the shoes in the first place but its a small thing really in the grand scheme of things.
Now I got another pair of Asics but this time I went ahead and ordered them from Zappos. The sneakers I got were a bit on the expensive side but from past experience Zappos has always been better. I got an email today saying that they upgraded my shipping to next day which is awesome! This will be the third time that I've bought shoes from them and every time they have shown outstanding customer service, even when I wanted to return shoes and get a different pair.
Traditional shoe stores somehow don't do it for me anymore. Every time I've gone they never have the shoes that I want or the size that I need. All the shoes that I want to get are all online but never in the store so its hard for me to try them on to see if I like them. Also some of the brands I use like Ecco are not readily available in most shoe stores so I have no choice but to use online stores. Even though it is more expensive, I think Zappos will be me go to store for footware. Next day shipping and free returns if I don't like them can't be beat. OK I'm done blogging for tonight, maybe I'll blog some more tomorrow if I'm feeling the urge.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Bank Benefits
This Saturday the wife and I went to the bank to do some business. While we were there the customer service rep said that we were eligible for an account upgrade through my employer so that we don't have to have a set balance all the time to avoid a monthly fee. To the two of us we thought that was pretty cool, the only thing that was a little funny about getting the account upgrade was because it was because I was still listed at the bank as being with my previous employer.
I don't know how my account hasn't been updated. I've been getting direct payments into our accounts from my new employer for 2 years but I guess my bank is a bit slow on those things. No matter, I'll take the free account upgrade. Thank you former employer!
I don't know how my account hasn't been updated. I've been getting direct payments into our accounts from my new employer for 2 years but I guess my bank is a bit slow on those things. No matter, I'll take the free account upgrade. Thank you former employer!
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