Cocktail Confessions

It’s pointed out to me on occassion that my job exists solely based on the fact that others are morons, and we live in a society today where people like their hands to be held.

Whether we now live in a collective culture fo complacency or laziness, people call support services for the likes of all things.  And by that I also mean, they call for the obvious or just call because they jsut can’t seem to be bothered by using their own brain and the common sense that should go along with it.

Occassionaly there are those news stories where someone (usually in low income or urban settings) will call 9-1-1 to report that their fast food order was wrong, that the cheeseburger in fact had no cheese, or the window attendant forgot to place ketchup in the bag.

But stupidity and laziness isn’ just confined to fast food establishments and to those that believe WalMart is just this side of Heaven’s pearly gates.  No, stupidity knows no boundries or socio-economic classes.  Where there are humans, there is eventually a lack of perception, self-awareness, or thought at some random time.

I work at a techinical company.  I will even go as far as to say my compnay ‘manufactures’ technical equipment.  We have engineers, developers, copy writers, quality assurance inspectors, etc., that we apparantly pay large sums of money to, in hopes that they will design a sustainable product to be aptly sold in the market place for a return that will keep us all employed and keep the company growing.  The aforementioned people are also some of the worst abusers of common sense and I often wonder what our screening process is.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m no Albert Einstein, but I do take pause on occassion to note what I am doing prior to calling the Help Desk.  So what prompted my little tirade today?  Well, today I’ve been on the receiving end of a bevy of questionable calls:

“The video conferencing machine is not working properly.  We can’t see anything on the screen?”

Is the TV and/or monitor on?  No?  Go ahead and turn it on please.

“You guys are blocking the Internet.  I can’t check anything including my email.

Please look in the back of your PC.  Do you see green/amber lights? No? Is the ethernet cable plugged in? No?  Go ahead and plug that in please.

“My phone isn’t working.  I can’t make any calls.”

You do realize you just called me, right?  And you can hear me?  Good.  I can hear you.  Case solved.

“I just turned on the printer in my department.”

Er…okay?  Was there something wrong?  No?  Okay, in that case I’m very proud.  Nice job on toggling the power switch. 

“The printer just stopped printing mid -ob.  There is a red light on next to the paper tray.”

Please add more paper to the empty tray.

“The laser pointer in the main conference room is not lighting up when I hold the button down.  It generally always works, but we noticed it’s been acting sporadic lately.”

Have you checked the batteries?  Perhaps you should try changing them since it’s been in use for over a year.

I can’t install this software I just bought.  It’s says Windows XP on the box and I have a Microsoft computer.

But our company runs Window 2000.

I could go on and on with much more involved and ludicrous tales.  I picked the easiest ones here to type, but it amazes me how many of these guys are in fact engineers, or people who have worked here for years (as if we in IT just decided to come in one day and change ‘everything’ overnight that we knew was going to directly affect one random person and its a conspiracy on our behalf to not tell anyone.  Yeah, because we are that bored and we all collectively decided together that we all wanted to take these calls today as a challenge to validate our mental stability.

Continued from Part I…

Amongst our party this is what we ordered: 2 orders of paella (to be split amongst 4 of us, me included since I love paella), 2 pork tenderloins, 1 chipotle short ribs, and I think 1 order of Camarones (sautéed jumbo shrimp).  Other than the paella, all the dishes were pretty much served with whipped potatoes and spears of asparagus.  The main dishes themselves were a mixed bag of reviews amongst us.

Michelle said the short ribs were good but a little spicy for her.  They looked good yet the side of potatoes and asparagus seemed a bit paltry for all the dishes that received them.  The good news is that the girls all ordered the single dishes and felt fine afterwards, but for the four of us guys, these potatoes and asparagus wouldn’t be enough.

Monica had the chili citrus glazed pork tenderloin and was satisfied with it.  It was tender, (as I had a taste of it myself) and pleasant, but nothing special as far as pork dishes go.

Monica's Pork Tenderloin Medallions

Alicia had the Camarones (shrimp) served on a bed of red rice and ratatouille, but again, while good, wasn’t anything exceptional or noteworthy.

Finally the four of us guys split two orders of paella amongst ourselves.  This dish was the biggest letdown.  While the platters themselves were indeed very large, hot, and filling, they were very inconsistent.  The one Sam and I shared had a lot of clams and very little chorizo (I could only find one piece myself) whereas Brian’s and Chris’s platter had practically no clams at all.  We all noted that the bacon was undercooked as well, as if the chef actually forgot it until the last possible second and thought the carry over heat from the dish would cook it.  The spices themselves seemed mild and I requested that our waitress bring us some hot sauce (they had Tabasco) to liven it up. 

In the end, we all thought that while the paella portion size was good, we had all had better paella experiences elsewhere.

Paella - El Cid style

Desert was not included, but you can choose either flan or chocolate mousse cake.

The dinner show itself was good, but not great.  On stage were two female Flamenco dancers, one guitarist, and one singer.  The show itself lasts for about an hour and the two female dancers have a pretty good workout there up on stage.  Personally I enjoyed the guitarist and singer, but in other shows I’ve been too at other establishments the men were a bit more active and even danced whereas they didn’t here.  Even though the stage lighting was a bit on the low end, I was able to record some pretty good excerpts using my Kodak Playsport.  I shot unobstructed video at 720p and feel they came out fairly well, especially the sound. Overall, I shot about 22 minutes of raw video which I broke up into 3 separate YouTube video segments that I have edited and uploaded.  I’ve embedded one video here, but you can see the third one on YouTube via this link if interested.

After the show we all made our way outside to the patio once again for a final drink under the stars as the staff then converts the entire restaurant into a Hip-Hop club that open at 10pm.  No, I’m not making this up.  They seriously remove all the floor tables leaving only the booths and make way for a dance club.  I thought it very strange that a Hip-Hop club shows up at a Spanish restaurant later in the evening, but we didn’t stick around to see the clientele.

So overall, I rate El Cid a solid ‘3’ on a scale of 5 (breakdown):

Ambiance: 3.5

Food: 3

Dinner show: 3

Value: 3

BB12 Kristen

Yeah, I know…it’s been a while since I made any Big Brother updates, but I have some spare time today and I think I have enough to make some observations and comments on the continuing shenanigans going on in the house.

In the last 2 weeks both Andrew and Monet were evicted.  Personally no big loss to me that Monet was let go, as she was just annoyingly two-faced and had selective memory of some of her antics.  Monet’s eviction was a personal blow to Britney, as the two of theme were the two cackling hens and gossiping bitties in the house, with much of their ire directed towards Rachel.  However, they never said it to Rachel’s face and were thus reduced to gossiping and mocking Rachel behind closed doors.

Britney has bounced back somewhat and is fully admitting to playing the part of being interested in whatever Rachel has to say now to the point of being vomit inducing-ly sweet to Rachel. 

Speaking of Britney, it’s still my belief that Kathy and Britney are mother and daughter, but so far, if it is indeed fact, Big Brother himself is doing a great job of not leading us on to this point.

Ragan is doing a brilliant job of flying under the radar.  He has a good one-liner per episode, but he’s allowing everyone else to play the game without him and so far, it’s a strategy that seems to be working for him against all conventional wisdom.

On the other hand, last week, Andrew was used as a pawn by Matt (third weeks HoH) in order to try and possibly backdoor either Rachel or Brendon.  I didn’t understand his logic then and neither did his fellow Brigade members, and it ultimately backfired.  When Brendon won the Veto competition against all odds and to the Brigade’s dismay, Andrew began to lose it.  Kathy, the other nominee for eviction last week, laid low and kept to herself allowing Andrew to self-destruct.  So, in a blaze of glory, Andrew made a very dramatic last ditch speech which more or less sealed his fate, (although he pretty much figured he was out anyway).  In his speech, he called out Hayden and Kristen’s ‘hidden’ showmance and alliance in which both vehemently denied (BTW: they are in a showmance), and was subsequently voted out.

Next up in episode 10, after Andrew is booted out we have the next HoH competition.  Much to the chagrin to the Brigade and defying the odds, Rachel becomes the HoH for the 2^ndtime in 4 weeks.  The competition seemed very personal between Kristen and Rachel, and when Rachel pulled out the win, it got heated quickly.  Thanks to Rachel’s barbing, she and Kristen had a very vocal debate in front of everyone else.  Within the span of just a few minutes, Kristen went from being a non-threat to public enemy number one in Rachel’s eyes.  Rachel also called Hayden and Kristen on their showmance, which they still denied, but the rest of the house guests aren’t really buying it. 

Behind closed doors, the remaining members of The Brigade (Enzo, Matt, & Lane) tell Hayden he needs to buck up and if it comes down to an either/or situation, that Hayden needs to boot Kristen, feelings or not.

When the HoH room is revealed for the week, everyone attends (begrudgingly and putting on fake interest and congratulatory statements) except Kristen.  This is noted by Rachel.

Hayden tries to do some damage control with Rachel, but Rachel doesn’t buy it.  Hayden then tries to tell Kristen that she should also try some damage control.  Earlier, Rachel tried to extend an olive branch to Kristen, but Kristen rejected Rachel’s attempts at an apology.  Of course this irks Rachel even moreso and is more determined than ever to evict Kristen.  When Kristen ‘finally’ comes around in her attempt of damage control, Rachel is only listening for show, but her mind is made up, Kristen has got to go.

Brendon is starting to get very nervous about the way Rachel is going through the house on her cocky power trip and is hinting to her that she needs to back down a bit, lest they become a target once again after this week is done.

Kathy has insecure fears that she is going to be put up again this week due to her friendly associations with Kristen, but in the end, during the nomination ceremony, its Hayden and Kristen that are now nominated for eviction.

Well, for right now I’m holding off on getting a new Droid phone.  As much as I would like to get the Droid X, my current Motorola Droid (gen 1) is only 9 months old and I can’t justify in my mind spending the money on a new flavor just to say I have the latest and greatest.  I’d personally feel more grateful internally if I can last a whole year before I actually upgrade, and I may even get lucky and get the Droid X at a slightly cheaper price anyway.

But as these things go, I suppose as soon as I get the Droid X, a new Android phone will be announced that will even be better.  On the bright side, the long awaited update, Froyo (aka 2.2), is supposed to drop OTC this week which mean Flash is just around the corner.

And despite all those people that have the iPhone, a report was issued today stating that in North America, out of all the smart phones, that the Android OS is the most widely distributed.

Doesn’t Lady Gaga look like Marilyn Manson?  I don’t know why, but in this pick I can’t help but think that she does.  I don’t think she’s all that great looking, but she has a new spread in Vanity Fair this month, and it’s the best I’ve ever seen her (BTW: this isn’t one of the pics).  Me thinks she had plastic surgery in the past…..in the nose region.

Had a wonderful smoked brisket this weekend.  It was a lot of work, but my friends seemed to enjoy it pretty well and gave me accolades for my efforts.  It’s definitely a social thing though, and would benefit a group of guys hanging around sharing a case of beer and stories all day than doing it solo.  I took plenty of video’s and pictures of the process, and I hope to have those up soon here and on YouTube.

Speaking of which, my friend Brian made an excellent potato salad with blue cheese, chipotle, and smoked paprika amongst other ingredients and it was delicious.  He said he’d give me the recipe and I’ll post here in the future as well.

Er, why does Lindsay Lohan get released after 14 days of her 90 day sentence?  If it were any Joe Blow or Jane Doe, we’d serve the full time.  Pisses me off, this double-standard crap that so-called spoiled celebrities get to take advantage of.  It’s crap on all levels.

Worked on a HO structure model this Sunday during my personal down time.  I love my hobby of model building for trains.  It’s fun and relaxing, although it can be a long and arduous process.  Wish I had a bit more money so I could start my benchwork for my layout.

Started a new book: “The Art of Racing in the Rain”.  It’s a novel whose story is told through the eyes and soul of a 13 year old yellow Labrador.  Very touching and moving.  Dare I say I’ve already been moved to tears after the opening chapter?  I’ve been reading more books lately based on animals and have been enjoying them immensely.  I just finished ‘Dog Town’, based on true account of the Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah.

Finally, I really need to start my diet as of yesterday.  I have approx 2.5 months to drop close to 15 lbs for a wedding in which I am the best man.  I had an excellent meal and beer fest this past Saturday, so the last two days I’m just drinking water, coffee, and ice tea.