Visits

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks!

We had some wonderful house guests in my parents, and Dancers aunt - we celebrated ThanksGiving, closely followed by a really pleasant Christmas celebration - I scored a couple of xBox 360 games (Mass Effect and Assassins Creed) that will keep me amused for quite some time!

My parents head back home a couple of days ago, and rather than it giving us time to relax, work has ramped up on the insanity levels. I've been busier than ever this last few weeks, and my boss seems to be taking notice now, which is good news for me, as they have their eyes on someone to step in and help. Nothing concrete on that yet, but we'll see.

This weekend is already planned out. Saturday I'm doing nothing. Sunday I'm watching Dancer do nothing (she's working Saturday). Thats it. Nothing. Grocery shopping will be done tonight on our way home from work.

The weather for Saturday is supposed to be a balmy, warm 20f all day, with the weather for Sunday looking to be several inches of snow. I'm glad my parents made it out when they did!

I'm rediscovering my enjoyment of British stand up comedians, and today I'm happily wearing my Billy Connolly T Shirt I was bought from his recent tour my family went to - no one in the office gets it :)

Back to the grind stone.

Turkey road block

This year we ordered a turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas lunches. We've always hit the local supermarkets before, and bought the pre-packed junk ones.

This year we decided to order one, and we saw an article on Bobs Turkey farm, in Lancaster MA.

So today we headed out into the first snow of the year (dropping an inch or so), crawled down Route 2, navigating around the recent spin out of cars (3 of them had spun seconds before we got there, and were trying to turn around), and headed over to Bobs.

When we got there, we lost it. We were both laughing our pants off. There was a traffic jam right outside the farm. They were lining up to get in. This place has 10,000 Turkeys to sell this Thanksgiving, and they have 15 or so parking spots. It was absolutely hysterical watching the police who were trying to navigate traffic properly standing around in snow and playing musical parking spots with the Turkey Farm customers!

We got in and out, and now have a 14lb, freshly butchered Turkey ready for dinner on Thursday :)

Now for some food and cooking, before heading out to get my parents from Logan airport tonight - their flight has been screwed up and they are now flying through Chicago, from Manchester England to get to Boston. Thanks American Airlines, fuckers!

Incoming visitors

For the last few days we've been cleaning :) The house looks lovely now, but we busted ass to get it that way - on top of cleaning the whole place from top to bottom, we did a bunch of routine stuff too. The car needed it's 15,000 mile service, the dogs needed to go to the groomers, the studio needed some curtains put up over the mirrored wall, the basement desperately needed a sweep.

So it's been a lot of hard work.

Thanksgiving is coming - I have no particular attachment to it as a holiday, but it's the American Christmas, and the time of year to take some vacation from work, and this year, we'll be spending some time with our family, both my parents, and Dancers aunt will be here. I am very much looking forward to this holiday!

One day of work, then vacation for a week.

We have a big Thanksgiving dinner planned - including a farm fresh Turkey for the first time - normally we get a packaged bird, but this year, in the countryside, screw it, we're getting a fresh one :) It's a big one too, should be enough :D

So after a long day cleaning, we're sitting down, snoozing, cuddling pugs and watching some DVDs that make us laugh.

Redecorated spare room

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From a room with a cheap shelf, and a twin sized futon, into this.

Weekend so far

Friday night was my performance for the Gala for Michael Baxter, who is a well-known bellydance photographer. It wasn't my best performance (you can see it here under the Videos section. It was tough to go straight from work and go into Dancer mode. Up until Friday, I'd either been immersed in dance (either in the retreat or workshops) or had the day to chill. That was really, really tough. It was also the first time I was really with high-caliber dancers not in a class setting. These folks I'd never met before, nor was it in a teaching session. Still, while not my best, it wasn't my worst either.

Saturday I had to work. I wanted to have some time to prep for today, but sadly that didn't happen. I was pretty down about work and it sucking my life away, but after talking to my Geek I felt much better about things. Thanks, hon.

I got a very early night on Saturday night, as I had to be up at 4:30 today for the photoshoot. Ok, I have to say this up-front. First, I have a whole new respect for models, like Tyra Banks, and second, all the hours spent watching America's Next Top Model came in damned handy!! When they went through the facial expressions and the vowels, I actually got it.

It was a blast! I had the best time doing the shoot. Michael was extremely patient and easy to work with (and when he discovered I was also a geek, he had a whole new level of respect for me. He's also an editor for Linux magazine, among other geek endeavors.) Aazura was also wonderful. They complemented me on how quick I picked up and how well I responded to direction. I know there were some great shots and I can't wait to get the DVD of he photos.

We went and saw Elizabeth tonight. It was awesome!! I'm so happy I saw it in the cinema. I saw the first one in the cinema and wanted to keep the tradition. We're thinking of going to see Nightmare Before Christmas later.

Deifinitely a lovely weekend.

T Mobile retains two customers

Dancer and I have been with T Mobile for almost 4 years now. *Almost*.

Here in the US, cellphone contracts run for two years. To get the full discount on a new phone, you need two years tenure. Which sucks, as we are two months away from our second renewal preiod, and my Motorola Razr shit the bed, when it's screen stopped working, making it very tricky to, you know, use it.

So we went into the store. We knew which handset we wanted to go with (the Blackberry Curve, one each), and I knew how much it would cost if I was renewing at the two year mark.

The store was unyielding, and quoted us $100, per phone, more than I knew it should be. So we walked out. A quick trip to AT&T to price up iPhones and contracts, then I called T Mobile direct. Their Support team was at least honest, they have no flexibility in the system, and can't change the price. Customer care could though, so I hopped over.

There I dealt with a very nice woman, who immediately quoted me the price I wanted to hear, talked through the plans clearly, and even made recommendations where I could drop some services I'd been paying for, but not using at all.

So now two Blackberry Curves (8320's) in Titanium are on their way, our plan now covers full internet access and we couldn't be happier with T Mobile. Good job!

Indiana gives me migraines

I just got back from a business trip to Indiana, which was pretty much a waste of my time, but thats the way it goes.

When you travel to other cities for business, finding somewhere to eat is always a chore. You kind of want to eat at a place you wouldn't find anywhere else, and see a bit of the local culture, for what it's worth, but your on a tight timetable, need to be alert the next day, so you tend to gravitate more towards the known entities.

Now I see why. Monday night was a fairly average, but nice enough, dinner at Outback, a national chain. We knew what to expect, and got it.

Tuesday night, we got adventurous, and hit up a local, highly recommended, Irish pub. Not just any, but one that had been carved out and constructed in Ireland, then shipped over, and put back together by Irish workmen, apparently.

I ordered fish and chips. How could you go wrong with that right?

I was asked if I wanted 1/2 or 1 full pound - not sure of what, I went with the pound. It's all getting expensed, right?
The chips were American chips - ie Crisps. Not quite the kind you get in a bag, but not what I expected.
The fish - I got a full pound of deep fried fish. More fry than fish. It was dry, unappetizing and I managed half of one. Barely touched the chips.

By the end of the meal, I had a headache. By the time I got to my hotel, I had a migraine for the first time in 10 years or so.

Not much fun in Indiana. I was passed out by 9pm, and slept all night.