WI travelin'

I returned yesterday from a short trip for work from the Milwaukee, WI area. Where do I begin? How about the plane ride there. I was on the plane with a bunch of junior college softball-playing females. They were going home from a tournament in FL. Small talk was made and the subject of what do they do for fun in WI came up. I was told "Camping and Hunting" are the only two things to do in WI according to these 20somethings. Great. I thought the Packers and eating cheese would somehow find its way in, but it did not. Anyway, I must admit that we had no time to explore the intricacies of the city of Milwaukee and maybe I am giving a hollow judgment, but I still believe that WI is no place for me. Give me MI any day...potholes, silly local government issues, racial tensions, scandalous crimes and all. I never thought I would miss traffic on I94 or I75, but being in WI made me think about that and when I returned and got off the plane and into my car and hit the traffic, I was pretty glad to be here and not there. Could it be the bad experience I had at a piece of trash Holiday Inn? Maybe. Could it be the recommended restaurant on the busy main street we were on was not very good? Maybe. Several episodes throughout this short trip made me sour about WI. My advice to you is to keep driving if you go there or just go over to the Chi for some diversity and urban activity.

Sprats in Oil

So, the maintenance guy at my work is Russian. SUPER-RUSSIAN, even. This guy was an engineer back in his motherland and has done general maintenance jobs since he has been in the US. He is an absolute trip! His Russian accent is "POOOOR-FICT" (as he would say) and we talk about various subjects every few days. The other day, he is flipping out in his work area and calls me to help him with some "email problems". Well, I had a few min to spare and went into his area. First, his area. Man, the guy has been relegated to the bowels of our building. I mean, this area is like an oversized janitor closet-shipping/receiving area-nutty professor lab all in one. But, he has a desk and PC in it. Anyway, I go into his area and he is trippin' because his folder view has disappeared in Outlook due to some inadvertent key stroke. He dares not check any of the toolbar options to swiftly get it back as it was because he has some odd techno-phobia; well, dude is in his mid-sixties so I cut him full slack. I quickly get to the bottom of how insists on having his inbox sorted and all of his folders visible and he's happier than ish....Well, he wants to repay me for helping him. I refuse, but he insists he is going to bring me "special fish"..Hmmmmmm. Special fish, you say? My mind is racing down way too many mental highways beyond the scope of this post.....Well, we do talk food pretty frequently and today he actually brings me a can of Riga Smoked Sprats in Oil. To make a long explanation short, Riga = the largest city in the Baltic States and serves as a major cultural, educational, political, financial, commercial and industrial center in the Baltics. Sprats = small herring found in European waters. It is served smoked but can be eaten fresh, grilled or fried. He said Russians are crazy about this fish. So, I am hyped because I seriously love fish and have not had Sprat...knowingly, at least. I do think the whole Outlook fixing thing was just a coincidence because I brought him a can of smoked Trout in oil a few weeks ago and he told me he was going to bring me some Russian fish soon...I look forward to eating these Sprats (what a funny name) and if they rival the sardines I recently ate from Spain, my Russian friend may need to be the middle man for my newest addiction...We'll see.

Empty promises to oneself....

Ah...the start of a new year...In my eyes, the major difference is simply a new paper or virtual calendar. I have been laughing in my mind recently as I have been overhearing conversations at work about the various New Years Resolutions that people have been spewing out of their mouths. "Getting in shape" or "working out more" tend to always come up. Such a tired and abused concept. Really. I was also laughing today as I quickly ran into WF on my lunch hour to buy a few sale items. I drove past two separate gyms and the parking lots were jammed and I am sure were 2X as jammed after work hours. Gyms love a sucker. Several dozen suckers keep the gym lights on and pay for new equipment.

Don't get me wrong, I certainly think the world is a better place with fit and health conscious people, but fast forward to March of this year and I can assure you that the gym parking lots will not look as they look in January. Motivation dwindles. Bad habits die hard. People don't change.

Props to anyone who makes a resolution and keeps it. The way I look at it is that I don't need a New Year to trigger the start of something beneficial in my life that I can make happen. I believe in constant evaluation and immediate change or at least an attempt at anytime throughout the year...Not a complete lowering of your defenses to sit and wait for January 1st. Please!

So, did any of you fall into the New Year Resolution trap?

It's Merry Christmas to you buddy!

Oh brother......One of those moments in my life that I wish could have just been a blip on the screen...Last week sometime, I was walking down a hallway at work and someone said a few words to strike up some conversation and points and counter-points were made and blah-blah-blah...At the end of our quick conversation, the person says, "If I don't see you, have a Merry Christmas....Oops, I mean Happy Holidays." I said, "Why did you say that?" The person says, "Merry Christmas is not the PC thing to say these days." I said, "I'm not offended by you saying Merry Christmas to me." The person says, "Oh, ok. I just know there are people who work here that don't celebrate Christmas." I said, "Right, but do you really think someone is going to file a complaint against you or something?" The person says, "You never know."

Moron.

I guess that person should have wished me a happy Festivus instead. :p