Tadge's Blog

Back from Peru

2005-08-20T18:59:00.001-04:00

First of all let me say one thing WOW! I had a great time in Peru. I am not sure how to write about this since there were so many things that happened while we were there. You can read the earlier post which I actually did on the 3rd day of the trip in an Internet cafe. The rest of the trip I think I will sum up in this post.

The night after we arrived in Cuzco we had a meeting at SAS Travel, which was the agency that we booked our hike through. We were the first ones there at the meeting which was next door to the hotel, Hotel Los Marqueses, where we were staying. We sat down and had some coffee and cookies since we hadn't yet grabbed any dinner. Soon there after another person from the group came in who was from D.C. and we started to talk. She asked Jodie and I when we had gotten to Cuzco, which of course had only been that day. So the question of altitude sickness quickly came up. For good measure you should go to a city such as Cuzco to acclimate for at least 3 days prior to doing any physical activity. This was something that I hadn't thought of until after we had found out the times when the trek was leaving. I wasn't too worried about it personally since I had been skiing at Tahoe earlier this year and not felt too fatigued, even though we would be 5,000 feet higher than I was at Tahoe. Jodie however started to panic a little.

Soon there after the rest of the group showed up and we listened to the break down of the trip. I also realized that I had forgotten to call on the Friday before to confirm our trip, luckily there was still room in the group. So with the end of the meeting and the anticipated 6:00 am departure time, we headed out to pay for the trip and grab a bite to eat.

Jodie picked this neat little vegetarian place (we didn't realize that until we saw the menu) that had excellent food. So we enjoyed a nice dinner and then headed back to the hotel for bed. Now I have to say that the Marqueses was indeed a nice hotel, but that first night it seemed as if someone forgot to turn on the heat. So when we woke up the next morning we were wondering whether to stay here when we got back from our trip. As we checked out we booked the hotel for the rest of our stay, figuring it was better to have some plan than to come back and have to find a hotel.

So now it was off on our hike to Salkantay and Manchu Picchu!

From Peru

2005-08-20T18:59:00.000-04:00

Well here I am in Peru day three so far so good. We have made it from NYC to Lima. We spent the night we got in just hanging out in our hotel since we got in late, and it was a long day of traveling.

After not being able to sleep soundly for the first night of the trip I woke up and was having a bit of an anxiety attack, since I was afraid that we wouldn't have tickets for Cuzco when we got to the airport. After a little coffee and breakfast I had calmed down a bit.

That morning we had about 4 hours to hang out in town. So we took a walk down to the area know as Miraflores. This was the first time I had ever seen the Pacific ocean. It was awesome, the coastline dropped a couple hundred feet to the beach and there were surfers out in the ocean catching some small waves. As we walked through the park, Costa Verde, we noticed these people parasailing out over the ocean. Jodie was all pumped up to try it out. As we walked along the Parque del Amor we saw where people were launching from. Unfortunately time didn't permit for either of us to do a tandem ride, so we figured that we would try to do this when we came back to Lima.

We got to the airport and there was no problem getting the tickets and now I felt that I could settle in to true vacation mode. We had an hour flight to Cuzco, which was actually very nice. The airline we flew on was LAN Peru and if I ever head back to South America I would definitely use the airline again.

Trip Planning

2005-07-09T15:28:00.000-04:00

For those of you that are planning trips out of the country let me tell you plan way ahead. I mean like six or seven months. I have been working on trying to book a trip to Peru with a hike up to Manchu Picchu and let me tell you it has been interesting. One site I went on was helpful in the sense of learning about the possibilities of the trip. I even emailed one of the people and had a response from them which was nice. The main difficulty so far has been booking the trip from Lima Peru up to Cusco and then to Manchu Picchu. Unfortunately the trip is done by a lot of people, meaning that you have to book in advanced. For someone that hasn't been out of the country, other than to Canada, it seems odd to have to make plans this far ahead. Oh well learning from experience is always fun. Any how, I will let you know how the trip turns out. I am looking forward to it already!!

Hilarity Ensues

2005-05-21T01:36:00.000-04:00

Over the last week I have been quite busy at work, but every afternoon I have religiously come home and picked back up "Straight Man" by Richard Russo. Since last Saturday when I started reading the book I couldn't put it down. Within the first 5 pages I was almost on the floor laughing hysterically. The images of certain events in this book make you wonder. The book is about a college professor and a series of events that seem almost too outrageous to believe, but are still in the realm of reality. Anyway after coming home today I decided that it was time to return to one of my favorite pubs up the street, really the only bar that you can consider a pub around here. I grabbed a nice pint of stout and had an excellent dinner. As always the food was good the atmosphere overly pleasant and the beer the best in town. After finishing desert and enjoying a nice cup of Irish coffee it was time to head home. I don't know why but as I have gotten older I don't seem to want to drink as I use to. Returning home it was time to finish the book and with a nice warm feeling I continued to laugh out loud as I read.

Since then I have taken a nap, and was woken from my peaceful slumber by the ringing of my phone. I have a cell phone instead of a landline (well I have a landline but only for my DSL connection) and for some reason when I receive a text message the phone rings incessantly. Anyway when I pick up the phone it is a message from one of my favorite people in the world. She has sent me a multimedia text, so I have to boot up my machine and check it out. I bet she was figuring that I already had a computer on! So I log on to Cingular and laugh as there is this goofy looking face smooshed against the phone. Texting back saying the picture would soon be on the web I received another sweet picture showing her friends and her feelings about my sense of humor. So now I am awake at 2 in the morning writing in my blog. I know that this is a ramble but I like to do this:) Either way check out one of the pictures here on my site. (The picture has been cropped so not to offend any of my readers).

Reno Day 6

2005-05-15T20:45:00.000-04:00

Well it was the final full day of skiing that I would have in Reno on this trip. We headed to pick up Brad's dad. After the unsuccessful fishing trip it was time to do something that would satisfy our hunger for adventure. So we headed to Northstar for the last hurray. As we arrived we could see that we weren't the only people that decided to ski that day. Oh well, its a big mountain and it ended up being a beautiful day weather wise.

After making it to the top of the mountain we hit a nice slope that was steep and had some nice fresh snow on it, though not as deep as the days prior. This is my kind of hill. I like to ski fast on a nice slope. As usual we were all off at the same time and by mid mountain my legs need a second to recover, as Brad cruised by me. And I thought that I skied hard! We got to the bottom and after a short wait we headed back to the top. We kept this up from about 9:30 till 12:30, though Brad's dad being sensible went down and took a break prior to us deciding the grab some lunch. As we sat on the deck we watch as a few kids threw some sweet tricks off the half pipe. After a slice and some water it was back to the hill. As the day progressed we got out the camera and shot some pretty good footage for being on skis and only having filmed the day prior while standing still. Hopefully soon you can go to my page and watch some footage of this, if so I will post the link.

After we had skied till about 3:30 and before the mass of people exited the resort we grabbed our stuff and headed out. Now I have to let you know that skiing here in the East most of the time you ski down past at the most two lifts to the bottom. So I skied down to what I thought was the base of the mountain, only to realize that I had a long way to go before I was even close to the car. So after about a 12 minute trip to the mid station it was another 3 to 5 minutes down to the actual base of the mountain. That's what I call skiing!!

Anyhow, after finishing up we headed home and grabbed some food from one of the chain restaurants in town. The last day was mostly getting packed up and taking a short gambling trip to downtown Reno. After loosing about $50 or so dollars we went to grab a bite to eat with my cousin. I said my good-byes and thank yous then headed to the airport to enjoy the flight back home.

If you are heading out to Reno/Tahoe, You've GOT to go to Heavenly! Really the trip was a blast and hopefully it won't be too long before I am out that way.

Reno Day 5

2005-05-15T20:27:00.001-04:00

Day 5
Well it was up early for fishing on Lake Tahoe. We headed out after picking up Brad's dad to go fishing at Tahoe. We got to the charter place after an enjoyable ride in the monster truck. So we get out and find the guide. After talking strategies on how he fishes, he lets us know that it has been a rough week out on the lake and that the Coast Guard isn't letting out boats as of yet. Since this was something that Brad had received as a gift I had no problem going along with whatever was decided. In the end it was the choice not to go fishing. No harm no foul, for me it was a reason to head back out to Reno.

So after dropping Brad's dad back at home we took off driving around, and checking out the houses that my cousin and he had been looking at. It's odd that you actually have to get on a waiting list to get into a housing track in my mind, but that's the way it is there. They were sitting at about another 6 months or so before they heard anything on this house. As we began driving I noticed that Brad was headed out of Reno, so I sat there thinking that maybe this was the scenic way back to the house. As we began getting further and further away from Reno I finally decided to ask where it was we were going. Mum was the word from Brad, it was up to me to guess.

As about the 5th suicide table billboard sign was visible out the car window my mind began scanning for what was in this area that would have a suicide table? Virginia City I said out loud. Brad looked over with a slightly amused and slightly surprised smile. You've got to love the history channel for the educational stuff you learn about the United States. I had seen a special on the Comstock Load, which was in Virginia City, and some how put the two together.

So we hit the streets after we climbed off our trusty stead and headed to the local stores our spurs a clattering on the wooden sidewalks. After a little prospecting on some jewelry and other items, we head to the local saloon to quench our thirst and see if we could strike it rich in the mine ourselves. As we entered the mine I struck it big! That is I smacked my head on one of the cross members, as the tour guide was telling us about the average size of the minors during the time being about 5'4" (I am 5'10" so I should have ducked)! After an exciting tour of the mine, and listening to a guy rattle off obnoxious questions of no relevance, we saddled back up to the bars, our spurs cutting into the bar stools. After finishing our root beers we hit the slots for a few pulls.

Needless to say as we mounted our steed to head out of town our pockets were lighter but our minds were clear and ready for the long road back to Reno, and the couch.

Reno Day 4

2005-05-15T20:27:00.000-04:00

Skiing in Heavenly

It was up early again this morning to head out skiing. Today the goal was Heavenly. I was told by someone before I headed out to Reno that no matter what I needed to go and ski at Heavenly. It was about an hour drive up to Heavenly so we were in Heavenly around 9:30 or so. We unloaded, got suited up, and road the gondola to mid-mountain. As we arrived at the mid station the fog was already thickening up. You could see about 15 feet or so. So after a little contemplation we headed up higher. This trip I had brought my video camera and we took the opportunity to jump into the trees to ski and shoot a little video of the trip. What a blast, in the trees the fog was less bothersome and the snow was perfect. A few runs in the trees and a few face plants later it was time to head back to Nevada.

Yep you can ski in two states while skiing at Heavenly, now I can check this off on my things to do before I die list! Unfortunately as we skied to the other side of the mountain the fog got worse and worse. At one point I had my goggles on my head and my glasses down over my noise. I thought it was supposed to be HEAVENLY here? Okay so it was the same time that California was getting a ton of rain. So for the rest of the day we just stuck to where there was some visibility. By the end of the day my thighs were screaming at me for the abuse of the day. So it was time to head back to Reno. We headed to where we had come up the mountain and as I peered down the double black diamond that was a mound of bumps there was something in my gut that said Not Today MR. So as my cousin's husband slide down the hill, I took the easy way out by hopping the lift down. (I know nothing ventured nothing gained, but hey I like my legs in one piece:).

After the days adventure it was home to sit on the couch and get harassed by the dog. Next up fishing at Tahoe!

Reno Day 3

2005-05-15T00:31:00.000-04:00

Well three days here and three days in a row woken up by Kaya, my cousin's schnauzer, yes the little dog enjoys nosing people awake, or making at least making sure that you are alive! Luckily for me I was still sleeping in according to the time different times between New York and Nevada. So being woken up at seven or eight in the morning wasn't too bad.

Today we were headed out to hang out on the town. Of course the first place we had to stop was a little sports shop, my cousin wanted to check out some shoes! Then we talked about what we should do next. Driving by the local movie theater I just kind of blurted out "Hey how about a movie?" So we stopped. After reading the marquee from the end of the parking lot and disagreeing about every movie that was showing whether it was something one of us had already seen, or a movie that one of us didn't really want to see. You would think that with 10 movies or so that were would be one movie that we could agree on, but instead it was off to the local video store to make a selection. After wandering around the movie store for about an hour, I know I like to take my time in these types of places, we walked out with two movies. One was "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and the other I can't honestly remember since we didn't end up watching it.

We took off from the movie place for a drive around town stopping no place particular. It is always a nice change of scenery to see the desert and mountains, as opposed to the grass and trees. Though I still favor the grass and trees:) After getting back to my cousins place we sat down to watch the movie. Within fifteen minutes my cousins husband was completely doing something else, since as he said "This movie is too weird." Then throughout the rest of the movie my cousin and I repeatedly kept asking each other if what we thought was happening was indeed happening. Anyhow after the movie we just chilled out till the days end.

That's the great thing about vacations, you can do nothing and feel good about it!

Reno Day 2

2005-05-15T00:29:00.000-04:00

The next day we headed to the Mt. Rose for a little skiing. We were going to meet up with some of my cousin's husbands friend who were in town and wanted to go skiing. We were planning on leaving for the hill at 9:00, but really didn't get going until around 9:30 or so. On the way up the guy that was driving was talking about how he got a great deal on the truck we were in, this little 4 Runner. He was so exited to have picked it up for the price that he had and when we asked if it was four wheel drive he said "Yeah, aren't all 4 Runners 4 wheel drive?".

We were suppose to meet a up with a bunch of people at Mt. Rose and go skiing right away, but I had to rent skis. Once we go to the original meeting place we opened up the owners manual for the 4 Runner to see how to switch the truck into 4 wheel drive. We figured it wouldn't be a bad thing to know if the weather turned bad. I got out and started to look and see if I could find a transfer case. Then my cousins husband got out and looked at the front end. Guess what no four wheel drive!! All that talk and the guy didn't realize that he didn't have 4 wheel drive. Needless to say that was a topic of talk for the rest of the week.

So we headed out to the other side of the mountain so I could get skis and a lift pass. Now this is the first time that I had been out West to go skiing, and it is lot different than skiing on the East coast. First of all these are mountains, not hills. There is also a lot of snow and not a lot of ice. This to me made skiing in between trees is a lot more realistic and somewhat less scary.

There was some fog rolling in due to the weather so we head up to the top of the hill and tried to find some slopes that didn't have any fog. It wasn't too bad since you could ski for about 15 minutes and only about 4 or 5 where spent in some marginal fog. By the time that 11 O'clock rolled around all the fog burned off anyways. As we shot down the slope I was definitely feeling the burn in my legs. This was completely new experience for me, usually I was the first one down the hills at home, or at least right next to the person I was skiing with. The lift rides in NY always seemed to be longer than the runs. Though I still like skiing here. In Reno the lift rides where long, but so was the trip down the hill. If I skied the entire slope with out resting I couldn't help but stop a little while during the next run.

As we skied we jumped in and out of the trees and traversed a lot of the mountain. I finally asked if my cousin's husband ever skied down the mountain? He said "Rose is too small you have to traverse just to get any enjoyment out of it." I smiled and tried to keep up the rest of the day.

So the day ended at Rose quite comically. We had taken this huge bull mastiff with us up to the mountain. So we let him out to use the bathroom before heading back to Reno. So the dog was walking around off his leash while we finished putting our equipment away. Well this guy had this little miniature Doberman which he was walking around on the leash in his ski boots. Needless to say the dog we were with thought that maybe this Doberman wanted to play. So he took off running towards this dog. Well the gentleman in the ski boots had his back turned towards and turned around just in time to see this monster of a dog coming right for him. All of a sudden he was up in the air and then on his back, pale as a ghost from fear. The guy who we had been skiing with us was calling for the dog and telling the guy, who mind you was still on his back, that his dog was friendly. My cousin's husband and I tried to control ourselves from laughing hysterically at the scene.

I could just imagine this guy thinking as he saw this dog coming for his puppy, "I'm going to die!" Then just think what it must have felt like to be knocked head over feet and end up lying on your back as a dog weighing about a hundred pounds stood over you. It still amazes me that the guy didn't get up asking for information and swearing he was going to sue.

We headed back to Reno and meet up with my cousin to go and see Brad Garrett from "Everybody Loves Raymond". So we went into the Reno Hilton's theatre and sat down for the show. Now since I am writing this almost three months after the whole thing I can't tell you much about the show other than the opening act was funny and Brad Garrett was freakin' hilarious. After leaving the theater with a sore sides from laughing we headed back home and hung out a while. Needless to say it was a great first full day in Reno!

Reno Nevada Day 1

2005-05-15T00:28:00.000-04:00

Well, the latest and greatest adventure was the trip out to Reno, Nevada to visit my cousin and her husband. Of course some skiing had to be thrown in there!

The trip started out on the 19th of February 2005 at about 7:00 am. I was flying out of Buffalo so I had to make sure I got out of bed (yes I still like to sleep:). So I grabbed my bags of clothes, ski gear, and I jumped in my car heading towards Buffalo. Luckily the weather was cooperating and it was an unexciting, uneventful drive. I got of the 90 and started following the directions my cousin gave me.

Did you ever get directions and fail to follow them exactly like they were written?

Well I did, and ended up driving up and down the wrong road looking for a street that wasn't there. So after rereading the directions I got back on track and found my cousin's house. I was a little early so I grabbed a bite to eat and then headed to my cousin's. After getting there we hung out for a few hours watching TV and catching up. Then it was off to the airport.

I got to the airport and luckily didn't have too long of a wait. The plane left on time and I headed West to Nevada. During the flight I enjoyed chatting with a women and her son that were headed to Tahoe. Once we landed in Las Vegas we had about and hour and a half till the next flight. So I sat down and blew about $15 in the slot machines in the airport. As usual I didn't walk away with anything. The flight on to Reno was about 15 minutes late so once we were on and took off I was ready to go. When we landed in Reno I pretty much walked as fast as I could to see where my cousin was and get the out of the airport! As I was coming down the final stretch before the luggage pick up I saw my cousin and her husband standing there waiting. After a few hugs and hellos it was off to pick up the luggage. Thank goodness I travel light! We quick hit a bar for a drink and some food (Airplane food isn't enough for me, the only thing I like more than sleeping is eating). We made it back to their house and kicked back and talked for the rest of the night.

NYC Day 4

2005-05-01T18:26:00.000-04:00

After all the excitement of the past three days I thought to myself its time to relax and just have some fun. So today the relaxation took the shape of another grocery trip for sponges to Liquidator's Discount store. As we are walking downstairs my buddy looks at me and says "You should have brought your camera", since there was this goofy sign on the way down the stairs. See, I had brought my video camera on the trip just to play around with, but hadn't brought it everywhere with me. As we are walking around looking for sponges there is an announcement over the PA "Swami, lock it down!" My buddy and I look at each other like what now! All of a sudden one of the employees goes whipping by us and up the stairs. Since we had found the sponges we headed up a second latter not thinking of anything. All of a sudden as we crest the top of the stairs we see about 10 people just standing there. The next thing you see is the kid running around the corner of the aisle with two of the employees in hot pursuit, one holding on to the thief's pants. The thief made a quick right down the isle and headed to the front of the store, making it out of the door. I looked at my buddy, shaking me head saying "Guess I should have brought the camera!" So we headed back to his place since there was a hot dodge ball match that had to be played.

I took in a bit of the dodge ball game in then took off to my other friends house to hangout before heading back to watch a local band that a girl from college was in named BLING KONG. The show was pretty sweet, though it always amazes me that sometimes people just stand there watching the band without moving. I have to admit that I am not a dance machine by any means, but at least a little head bop, or something is needed when a band is playing JEEZ!

Anyhow the last two days weren't too exciting. We went to this restaurant on Sunday morning after the Hummer taxi picked us up. For those wondering, yes he did pick up some strangers after he dropped us off. We had some breakfast with Mimosas, Bloody Mary's, and Screwdrivers at Stingy Lulu's. Then grabbed some candy at Economy Candy and finished up the day walking around the city. Monday I woke up, thanked my friends for letting me crash, then headed out to catch my plane back to Rochester. I have to say for a 5 day vacation it seemed quite long, and defiantly not boring. Well till next time I'm signing off.

-Tadge

NYC Day 3

2005-05-01T18:24:00.000-04:00

I was fortunate to have my buddies girlfriend take me to the MET while I was in the City. I have to tell you that it was a great experience. Experiencing art whether it is photographs, paintings, film, or the myriad of other forms is something that everyone should take the time to do. Looking at the art in the MET was awesome. Seeing the way people see the world through different eyes makes you enjoy the difference that exists in the world. Also, a great thing about going to museums is that you can go back into history by looking through the eyes of someone else. The neatest thing for me at the MET, besides the Van Gogh paintings, was looking at the art that they had on display from the Weimar Republic. Seeing how German artists saw the collapse of Germany after World War One was phenomenal!

So after the MET we headed back to their place and hung out for a little while. All of a sudden my buddy got a call and we were off to meet one of their friends. Walking quick down the street I was wondering what the heck was so important? As we rounded the corner there was this black Hummer sitting on the side of the road and my buddy was standing their chatting to their friend. We all hopped into the Hummer and took a little trip around the city in this beast of a truck. As we are driving around the block my buddies friend was telling how he was going to play taxi driver on Sunday. So after about twenty minutes of riding around we stopped and got out. I still can't believe someone would want to drive in a city like that.

After we got back we went to go shopping at the local corner store for some dinner and groceries. At the checkout counter there are these two guys in front of us, so we thought that the line was going to go quick. One dude is all twisted up, with a wad of cash in his hand. The cashier asks him for the $3.50 that he owes and he keeps chatting to the other kid. The cashier politely asks for the $3.50 again and the kid blows up at her "I'm getting your $3.50, what do you want a hundred? I am trying to make this easy for you!" So he keeps flipping through his cash as we stand there looking at each other like what the heck is this? Then this older women, dressed all nice, and this older gentleman, dressed up nice except for a goofy bow tie, stop on there way out. The women looks straight at the twisted kid and says "I know you, you sell drugs in our building. Why don't you move out and make something of yourself. Stop selling drugs in our building!" All of a sudden out of no where this kid starts screaming at these people calling them a blight on society and telling them that they should move back to Florida where they belong! My buddies girlfriend looks over and says "Maybe we did pick the wrong line!" Then the old guy grabs his wife and yells back at the kid "Next time I see you in our building I am calling the cops! I don't ever want to see you in that building again!" The cashier looks at the three of us and says simply "All I want is my $3.50." As we pay for our stuff I look over at this kid and he has about $1,000 in cash in his hands, flashing it around like nothing. I shake my head as we leave. Never a boring moment in life!

NYC Day 2

2005-05-01T18:22:00.000-04:00

Since I haven't done a lot of the things that NYC natives take for granted I asked one of my friends if she wanted to go to Coney Island with me. So we hopped the train and headed out to Coney Island. We got there and took a nice walk around checking out the rides. We were told that we had to try the Polar Express. So we hunted down the ride and bought our tickets. What a ride, the DJ rocks, but one warning if you sit on the outside be ready to be crushed Then it was off to the Cyclone for a few thrills and chills. Yet again the cash for the ride was well worth it. There is something about old roller coasters that make them even scarier than any of those high tech coasters. (Another great old coaster is the Jack Rabbit which is even older than the Cyclone!) We finished the trip by taking a nice walk down the boardwalk and checking out one of the piers. It was nice to sit back and relax in the sun.

After returning to my buddies place we decided that we would head out to get a few Yuenglings for later on that night. So on the way back from the local K-Mart, hey $9.95 is a great price, as we are walking down the street guess who walks by? You got it David Lee Roth! Yep the one and only, he walked by us close enough, that if I wanted to, I could have touched him. So it was back to the pad for a nice night of hanging out with friends.

New York City Day 1

2005-05-01T18:18:00.000-04:00

For any of you that might be reading this and don't live in New York I want you to follow this link so you understand the following; when someone says that they are from New York, please don't expect them to be from the City! The state of New York is quite big. I lived in Rochester, New York for more than 20 years before I made it to New York City. Enough of the geography lesson onto the trip.

I decided to go to NYC for a trip this summer to visit some friends that I hadn't seen in awhile. So I took off from Rochester at 5:00. As we taxied down the runway the plane began to slow, and then it stopped. The wonderful pilots came on the speaker and told us that we had to delay our take off for a while (15 minutes to an hour), due to some bad weather over Albany. Being the optimist that I am I turned to the gentleman next to me, heading home to NYC, and told him I would bet we would be off in 15 minutes. An hour and fifteen minutes later we began to take off to NYC. Oh well can't change the weather! (Note to all of you travelers out there that get down on airlines for this. When the weather is a problem trust me it is a legitimate problem. I worked on aircraft for four years and there was many a day that flights never left due to the weather.) I arrived in NYC at about 8:30 and by the time I arrived at my buddies place it was about 10 o'clock. So it was off to grab a slice of Vodka pizza, good stuff. After which it was a directly to the Johnson's, a nice little bar in NYC. I called up another friend, and she meet us out there to. After a Guinness and a few PBRs we headed home. The next day I found out that my buddy decided that it would be an interesting experiment to see how bleach tasted! What the???? Though I shouldn't put this past him, he also wanted to see if his tongue would stick to a ski lift bar, and found that the answer was yes!

Boston

2005-05-01T18:14:00.000-04:00

Two friends and I drove up to Boston to visit my little brother, and check out the city. We left on a Friday afternoon and had an uneventful drive, which in my book is the best kind of drive. We even found our hotel without much effort, you have to love triple A. We arrived around 6 o'clock in the afternoon, and decided to find Radius, the restaurant my brother works at. After walking about 5 to 10 blocks down the road the restaurant was suppose to be on we decided to look at a map and realized we had walked about 10 blocks to far. So we turned around and headed back. We found Radius and then decided to grab a drink, and wait for my brother got out of work. When Midnight rolled around we talked to my brother who told us to meet him outside the restaurant. Then it was off to a 24 hour dinner for a bite to eat. I had to have the Chocolate Chip pancakes, and since it was late we headed right back to our hotel.

The next day was spent walking around Boston, checking out Fenway and walking down Beacon Street. We had a nice time just enjoying the weather, and sites of the city. By the time we got back to the hotel we all needed a nap. So knowing our reservations were at 9 o'clock we took a break. We went to the restaurant and had an excellent meal, though it wasn't inexpensive. Who cares though when food tastes that good. By the time we were ready to leave my brother and his fellow employees were done with work. So it was off to the bar for a few after work drinks with the fine group of restaurant employees. Then of course we had to go get some food, since they hadn't eaten since the family meal at the restaurant. China Town was a unique experience for a guy who grew up in little ole Rochester, New York (though I do love this city). So after a bit to eat I headed back to the Hotel and fell asleep. The next morning was spent hanging out with my brother and his roommate to see a bit more of the city, before we jumped back on the highway to head home. Needless to say I had a great time in Boston and plan on heading back some time in the near future, though my budget won't allow me to eat at Radius again, though I would love to!

Starting a Real Blog

2005-05-01T18:12:00.000-04:00

I had a faux blog on my own website so now I think it is time to really try this out for real. Some of the posts will be old in the sense that I want to move my old content here. Other than that I will try to keep you up to date on my life.