Look, I’m a patient man. In fact, I consider myself to be very patient. You’d have to be in this household w/ a constant hormonal mother, and by hormonal I meant that as a euphemism for psycho. If my mother had been an alcoholic or has Alzheimer it would’ve been easier. It would at least help us explain the crazy mood swings she has. Sad thing is, whenever things aren’t going perfectly her way or she sense a little bit of stress she takes it out on the rest of us. So in fact, you’d either have to be very patient in order to survive in this family or you’d have to be insane just like her…
The thing is that I don’t get angry hardly ever at all, but when I do you’d better watch out. I don’t like it when I’m angry, and you sure as hell won’t like it when I’m angry. No, it’s not like I turn green with raging muscle from my head down to my purple shorts but every man has his limits. My boiling point is a lot higher than most but that also means that when I reach that point it’s going to be hotter and burn much more. Right now, I’m being tested. Ever since I’ve been on board this stupid ship I’ve been tested. First they tell us the excursion to Granada and Alhambra is full and we can’t go, now they’re telling us that we can’t go on shore to Morocco b/c of visa problems while the agents back in the States told us that we’d be able to if we go w/ an excursion group. I don’t know if it’s b/c of the international staff they have on board here but the way they say no is very hard to take or maybe I just have my heart set on going to Alhambra and Marakech and the rest of Morocco. They don’t just tell you “I’m sorry, no.” They like rip your heart out and directly shoot you down. It feels ten times worse than a girl breaking up with you I swear.
I really don’t like to complain. I don’t. But sometimes you really just gotta puke and let it all out. Unfortunately the blog-sphere becomes an easy outlet for puking.
Anyway, the Alhambra situation was eventually resolved since there were so many people on board wanted to go. I estimated about 7 tour buses with 40 people on each bus, or about 300 people. However, right now we’re docking at Casablanca and I can see the King Hassan II Mosque no more than a couple of miles from me but I’m stuck on this god awful ship filled w/ old people. It really makes me want to go berserk and burn this ship down.
I’ve been on a cruise couple of years back in the Caribbean’s but this ship just seems to be filled w/ old people. It’s as if the entire baby boomer generation from across the globe decided to book this cruise. This cruise is fully booked… makes me wonder if the global economy slowdown and credit crisis we hear in the news so routinely is just a joke. **memo to self: find companies that profit from baby boomers other than ISRG… something related to hip replacement or diabetes. I joked w/ Sarah the other day that the distribution curve for age on board if severely skewed to the right and if you run a t-test or z-test for my age I’d fall outside of even two standard deviations (if you are unfamiliar with statistics lingo, 2 standard deviations, at least in a normal distribution bell curve includes roughly 95% of the entire population)
I’m quite possibly the worst target customer for cruises. It’s like dying of a slow death for me. The only difference between prison and this is that there’s a poker table on this ship. Even the internet on board is slow. I don’t do slow. There are very few exceptions, like dancing and kissing. I should’ve been a New Yorker, really. I cannot stand the pace these people are moving and there’s no way to pass them in the hallways b/c other than the fact it’s narrower than usually, these old people travel in groups. Now I know what the scene you see in movies or commercials where a flock of sheep walk out onto the highway while you’re driving your jeep around in Ireland feels like. I am really considering running around the ship and put those slow moving vehicle signs on people’s ass, you know, the ones they have for like farming vehicles traveling on the highways. It’s not just mind-numbingly slow. I can feel a lot of other body parts going numb… no wonder there’s a demand for Viagra.
Dow cracked the 8,000 resistance and I really want to trade. My worst fear is that it's going to crack during the two weeks I'm gone. At first it looked like it was going to hold. I have no idea what's going to happen. It looks like Asia is up overnight so who knows.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
My Vacation
So I'm going on vacation this weekend for the rest of November. I hope nothing too significant happens while I'm gone. We've already tested the October low yesterday. I was afraid that's going to happen next week and possibly break and I'm going to miss out on the action. There's a G20 meeting which I don't think in the short run it'll be that significant but will have a longer term impact. Since I'm a bit obsessive about schedules, I'm trying to plan out what to do each day while researching the cities we're going and you get an idea of my route.
Saturday, 11/15 - flight to Barcelona, arrive late close to midnight I think. Maybe roam around the hotel, scout out food places.
11/16 ~ 18 - ship leaves at 7pm on the 18th. From what Oliver told me, the Olympic Hill is cool and Picaso Museum, Sagrada Familia, La Rambla and Park Guell (and other Gaudi architectures) are all good places to go.
11/19 - At sea
11/20 - Granada/Malaga. We're here almost 11 hrs. I don't know if we have enough time for both places but I'm leaning more towards Granada if I have to choose. Malaga I heard is cool b/c it's right on the ocean and it's the birth place of Picasso. People have told me that La Alhambra is a can't miss... it's like part fortress, part garden, and part garden.
11/21 - Casablanca. 9 hrs in Casablanca and Rabat. I think we can taken an overnight excursion to Marrakech. If this means we can skip Agadir I'm totally for it. Casablanca has the King Hassan Mosque and Rabat has the Kasbah of the Oudaias, Chellah, and Old Medina to see. If we get to go into Marrakech I'm going to try to go to Djemma El Fna, The Souks Market and Koutoubia Mosque.
11/22 - Agadir. From my research this is just a tourist resort. Disappointing...
11/23 - Arrecife/Lanzarote. Timanfaya Park, volcanic mountains and supposedly we can ride camels along the mountain side. I'm all over riding camels, man. But I feel sorry for the one that's having to carry my fat ass around.
11/24 - Las Palmas. 9 hrs here... I don't really care about this place. Beach and hiking? who knows.
11/25 - At sea
11/26 - Lisbon. We're here for about 9 hrs. Oliver told me to go to Monasterio de San Gerronimo and Torre de Belem. I think they're close together in this monument area but I could be wrong.
11/27 - Sevilla/Cadiz. We have almost 12 hrs at Cadiz and Sevilla. My impression is that Cadiz is not that interesting. If it's possible I'd like to go see a bull fight (Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza). I think someone told me this was along the river. The Cathedral of Seville, Real Alcazar, and the Jewish Quarter have all been mentioned as places to go and see.
11/28 - Gibraltar. 6 hours here more or less. Dolphin watching, St. Michael's cave and the Europa Point are all good options here I guess.
11/29 - Palma. We only have about 6 hrs or less again at Palmas, I think we can go to Castell de Bellver (some Muslim fortress with a good view of the bay) or the Pueblo Espanol (I think this is built like a small village with classical Spanish architectural work).
11/30 - dock back in Barcelona at 5am. Don't remember what time the departing flight is at the moment...
I'm excited about the food. I'm done w/ my diet and I lost about 12 lbs. Obviously it'd be stupid to gain it all back but I'm comfortable w/ indulging a little bit. I want to get some paella, tapas, gazpacho, kabobs, schwarma, falafael, some Moroccan tea, and just good sea food in general. I love the fact that they ran an episode of Bourdain's No Reservation on Monday when he went to Spain.
Saturday, 11/15 - flight to Barcelona, arrive late close to midnight I think. Maybe roam around the hotel, scout out food places.
11/16 ~ 18 - ship leaves at 7pm on the 18th. From what Oliver told me, the Olympic Hill is cool and Picaso Museum, Sagrada Familia, La Rambla and Park Guell (and other Gaudi architectures) are all good places to go.
11/19 - At sea
11/20 - Granada/Malaga. We're here almost 11 hrs. I don't know if we have enough time for both places but I'm leaning more towards Granada if I have to choose. Malaga I heard is cool b/c it's right on the ocean and it's the birth place of Picasso. People have told me that La Alhambra is a can't miss... it's like part fortress, part garden, and part garden.
11/21 - Casablanca. 9 hrs in Casablanca and Rabat. I think we can taken an overnight excursion to Marrakech. If this means we can skip Agadir I'm totally for it. Casablanca has the King Hassan Mosque and Rabat has the Kasbah of the Oudaias, Chellah, and Old Medina to see. If we get to go into Marrakech I'm going to try to go to Djemma El Fna, The Souks Market and Koutoubia Mosque.
11/22 - Agadir. From my research this is just a tourist resort. Disappointing...
11/23 - Arrecife/Lanzarote. Timanfaya Park, volcanic mountains and supposedly we can ride camels along the mountain side. I'm all over riding camels, man. But I feel sorry for the one that's having to carry my fat ass around.
11/24 - Las Palmas. 9 hrs here... I don't really care about this place. Beach and hiking? who knows.
11/25 - At sea
11/26 - Lisbon. We're here for about 9 hrs. Oliver told me to go to Monasterio de San Gerronimo and Torre de Belem. I think they're close together in this monument area but I could be wrong.
11/27 - Sevilla/Cadiz. We have almost 12 hrs at Cadiz and Sevilla. My impression is that Cadiz is not that interesting. If it's possible I'd like to go see a bull fight (Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza). I think someone told me this was along the river. The Cathedral of Seville, Real Alcazar, and the Jewish Quarter have all been mentioned as places to go and see.
11/28 - Gibraltar. 6 hours here more or less. Dolphin watching, St. Michael's cave and the Europa Point are all good options here I guess.
11/29 - Palma. We only have about 6 hrs or less again at Palmas, I think we can go to Castell de Bellver (some Muslim fortress with a good view of the bay) or the Pueblo Espanol (I think this is built like a small village with classical Spanish architectural work).
11/30 - dock back in Barcelona at 5am. Don't remember what time the departing flight is at the moment...
I'm excited about the food. I'm done w/ my diet and I lost about 12 lbs. Obviously it'd be stupid to gain it all back but I'm comfortable w/ indulging a little bit. I want to get some paella, tapas, gazpacho, kabobs, schwarma, falafael, some Moroccan tea, and just good sea food in general. I love the fact that they ran an episode of Bourdain's No Reservation on Monday when he went to Spain.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
My Weekend Review
So... I didn't beat my September. Disappointing... I actually got in a REIT and tried to hedge it with another except I got in a really bad price and too much size on the hedge. They ended up getting really out of wack and I lost a lotttt of money. Andy, our CEO, is back in Austin and he stopped by my desk to chat a little and see my progress.
I got my braces in on Monday. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would at first. Toward the end of my appointment I asked Jeff, my orthodontist, if this is the part that's going to hurt and he joked that "yeah, this is the part where we probably have to hold you down for" except I didn't know he was joking... Can't you see that I'm very nervous here!? The pain didn't quite kick in until Thursday and Friday. Along with my diet the only thing I could eat was beans and this chicken chili I found.
Speaking of the diet, I've lost about 8 or 9 lbs after 3 weeks. I haven't worked out as much as I'd like because sometimes it feels like I need a longer recovery period than normal. I do have to say though that I'm doing better in my weekly volleyball games as well. If nothing else I feel better. I'm not huffing and puffing as much and I'm more agile. I might deviate from my workout plans when it comes to leg exercises. You're suppose to have 5 second contraction and 5 second extension for each rep and for leg exercises that puts a lot of pressure on my knees. The first week was a pain to get through. I'd feel hungry all the time but as soon as I start eating I'd lose my appetite. Not able to have milk really sucks.
The house is a done deal. Closed the house and got the keys on Tuesday. Unfortunately a lot of my energy is spend on the new place right now, more specifically deciding about what to keep from the old place and what to move and what I need to buy. There is a set of living room furniture that's been in the family for I'd say 20 years and my parents and I just can't really find a good spot for it in the new place at the same time we definitely don't want to throw it away. I just spent a good part of today debating with my parents whether I should keep my old bed or get a Tempur-Pedic one, if I should stay with full or queen size, how to position my bed, where to put the rest of the furniture. If it's my room I should get to make the decisions and if I'm willing to pay for a better mattress what's wrong with that?
This is my standpoint: there are things in a house that you SHOULD spend more money on and there are other parts that you can get by a lot cheaper. A good bed is a good investment. Meanwhile my parents want to spend about 10 times the amount of a Tempur-Pedic bed on just a marble breakfast table. I think that's ridiculous. To me that's like buying a piece of crap car and you end up spending a whole lot more on rims and speakers to pimp out your ride. I'm all about simple, elegance, comfort, and affordable. Of course, if you want all four you are going to do a bit of leg work. Judging by all the just butt fugly couches my dad has purchased over the years I am really hesitant on having my parents buy the furniture. Being a Libra, I'm bless with style. Us Libras we appreciate beauty and we know it when we see it. I firmly believe it's also a big reason why I'm so good at these Project Runway, Top Design, Top Chef betting games or whatever reality TV show Bravo has on b/c we know what is beautiful and fierce and what is fugly.
I got my braces in on Monday. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would at first. Toward the end of my appointment I asked Jeff, my orthodontist, if this is the part that's going to hurt and he joked that "yeah, this is the part where we probably have to hold you down for" except I didn't know he was joking... Can't you see that I'm very nervous here!? The pain didn't quite kick in until Thursday and Friday. Along with my diet the only thing I could eat was beans and this chicken chili I found.
Speaking of the diet, I've lost about 8 or 9 lbs after 3 weeks. I haven't worked out as much as I'd like because sometimes it feels like I need a longer recovery period than normal. I do have to say though that I'm doing better in my weekly volleyball games as well. If nothing else I feel better. I'm not huffing and puffing as much and I'm more agile. I might deviate from my workout plans when it comes to leg exercises. You're suppose to have 5 second contraction and 5 second extension for each rep and for leg exercises that puts a lot of pressure on my knees. The first week was a pain to get through. I'd feel hungry all the time but as soon as I start eating I'd lose my appetite. Not able to have milk really sucks.
The house is a done deal. Closed the house and got the keys on Tuesday. Unfortunately a lot of my energy is spend on the new place right now, more specifically deciding about what to keep from the old place and what to move and what I need to buy. There is a set of living room furniture that's been in the family for I'd say 20 years and my parents and I just can't really find a good spot for it in the new place at the same time we definitely don't want to throw it away. I just spent a good part of today debating with my parents whether I should keep my old bed or get a Tempur-Pedic one, if I should stay with full or queen size, how to position my bed, where to put the rest of the furniture. If it's my room I should get to make the decisions and if I'm willing to pay for a better mattress what's wrong with that?
This is my standpoint: there are things in a house that you SHOULD spend more money on and there are other parts that you can get by a lot cheaper. A good bed is a good investment. Meanwhile my parents want to spend about 10 times the amount of a Tempur-Pedic bed on just a marble breakfast table. I think that's ridiculous. To me that's like buying a piece of crap car and you end up spending a whole lot more on rims and speakers to pimp out your ride. I'm all about simple, elegance, comfort, and affordable. Of course, if you want all four you are going to do a bit of leg work. Judging by all the just butt fugly couches my dad has purchased over the years I am really hesitant on having my parents buy the furniture. Being a Libra, I'm bless with style. Us Libras we appreciate beauty and we know it when we see it. I firmly believe it's also a big reason why I'm so good at these Project Runway, Top Design, Top Chef betting games or whatever reality TV show Bravo has on b/c we know what is beautiful and fierce and what is fugly.
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