Merry Christmas, Everyone!

I'm on holiday for the next two weeks. Don't expect many posts, if any. I'm turning my brain off. I haven't been home for a year and I'm here to spend time with the family.

That sounded bitter.

It's not meant to be.

So everyone who reads my blog (and those of you who don't, you aren't reading this anyways), Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

I Think We Need a New Suitcase

For real.

See, our office is not paperless yet. So when we are out doing fieldwork, we have to haul a suitcase with us containing all of our perm files and workpapers. The bigger the client, the more files, the bigger (and heavier) the suitcase. And since I'm a lowly staff accountant, I'm the one who gets to pack and haul it all over. I frequently have to pay $25-50 for an overweight bag (more than 50lbs). You can imagine how that sucks to lug around.

Well, imagine pulling that weight behind you with a suitcase whose wheels aren't 100%...or 10%, for that matter. That's been the situation with our medium sized suitcase since the summer. Well, 3 weeks ago, under the 57 or so pounds, the back of it had a huge crack in it. Ryan decided to be classy and duct tape it. That surprisingly worked for two weeks.

Exhibit A:





When we got to New York, I pulled the newly named "ghetto blaster" suitcase off the baggage claim, set it upright, and watched it fall over.

The wheel had broken completely.

I'm wheeling/dragging this thing outside in the rain, through the puddles, to get to the cab. It is not good.

I get to the hotel and upon further inspection, this is what I see..

Exhibit B:




This thing still has to get back to Orange County by way of Chicago. There's no way.

Ryan and I go to Macy's, Bloomingdales, Kohls, Lord & Taylor (?), and even a luggage store: no one has hard cased luggage. No one. We can't do soft luggage; our printer would be toast. Who knows about the audit files.

Well we had no luck. Ryan managed to secure the wheel with some more duct tape. And somehow it made it rolling 4-6 blocks in Manhattan, through the airport, to Chicago, back to Orange County in one piece.

I go to the office on Saturday to unpack/pack for this week. I can't get the sucker open. What? Yeah, I guess TSA inspected it and proceeded to LOCK it. I noticed a little code engraved next to the keyhole saying "TSA 003." It leads me to believe that the TSA have a master key or something to open people's luggage. Problem is, it wasn't locked when they opened it, and we don't have a key for it.

I had to pry it open with a screwdriver. How I was able to find a screwdriver at an accounting firm is another story. But I did.

Well now the thing won't latch shut because we can't reverse the lock.

I hope by the time I get back from Minnesota we have a new piece of luggage for the busy season. Somehow I think we'll still be using the "ghetto blaster."

New York Photos

Here they are...


Bryant Park with the Empire State Building in the background (blue lights).



Times Square looking south (I think). I had trouble getting my bearings.



So close!



Not sure what this place is, but it's 1251 6th Avenue, if that helps.



I love this shot.



Rockefeller Center



Rockefeller Center



Rockefeller Plaza



I wish those dudes weren't in the way, but you had to pay to get an unobstructed shot.



I saw some lady taking this shot, told her it was a good one, and did it myself.






They turned out better than I had hoped. Can't wait to go back. And, I think being their in the winter enhanced the experience. It had to of. Look at it.

New York State of Mind

My first day in New York City, and my manager is sick. Being that he and I are the only ones on this job, that poses a problem. Monday morning, he basically just came to work with me just to introduce me to the CFO and get me started working. Then he went back to the hotel. I've never been left unattended like this since I started at the firm. Much less with a bunch of accented New Yorkers in a city I've never been to. Oh, the largest in the country at that. Well, after a minute of panic, it was no big deal. I figured things out. I got done what I needed to get done. I was a trooper.

Since we're at a culinary school, naturally, there was culinary (food?) to eat. I ate lunch with the CFO. Intimidating at first, but he was really cool. He gave me his little pocket map of the city and told me what to see Monday night. Oh, we also ate veal and some other weird looking stuff that tasted mighty fine. Loved it. And it was $2. Which the CFO picked up. Score!

By Monday evening, Ryan wasn't feeling any better, so I went out by myself. It was actually better that way. I was pretty much scared to go exploring on my own. They say it's safe, but I'm a Scandanavian from a small town in Minnesota, I was a little nervous. I left our hotel on 24th and 6th, intending toget to Midtown on the first subway I saw. Well, I didn't see one. I think I was a block over too far. So by the time I got to 34th Street, I decided to just keep on walking! It was mid 30s out; not bad actually.

I stopped in Bryant Park to watch some ice skaters; I wandered through Times Square and gawked like an idiot; I hiked it up to 52nd and saw the Ed Sullivan Theater - where David Letterman tapes; I saw Radio City Music Hall; finally, I went to Rockefeller Center and saw the big Christmas tree and all the ice skaters. It was pretty much surreal. To finally be in NYC and verify (to myself) that it exists beyond tv and folklore was pretty wonderful.

By the time I returned to the hotel, I'd walked for 2 and 1/2 hours. I was pretty much shot by then, but it felt good. I only saw one hobo. And I actually felt safer walking around Manhattan than I did walking around San Francisco. No idea why. Less weirdos (at least that I saw)?

Tonight we're off to Long Island for the rest of the week to audit a sister company of the one in Manhattan.

As I was walking back to the hotel last night, I couldn't help but be thankful that the $800 hotel bill (for only two nights! not even that nice of a place!), airfare, and food are being expensed. You can't beat that.

I hope to come back to New York on my own sometime and see the plethora of things I didn't get to see this time. Thankfully I hit two of the major sites. Success!

Alabama, Y'all!

Although Alabama isn't the most exciting place I've ever been, it sure has some of the nicest people. How can someone speaking in a slow southern drawl sound angry? I think it's impossible. We worked with some really nice people last week in Birmingham. We got there on Sunday, so that makes for a long week, but it went by pretty fast.

It was kind of a bittersweet time, though. Mike, my co-worker and friend, is moving on to another firm. This was his last trip and I'll be out of town this next week, so I guess our working relationship is over. We had such a great time this week, though. He's really enjoyable to work with, and I'm gonna miss him. Good thing we still have the batting cage to hang out at.

Wednesday night we managed to land tickets to the SEC-Big East Invitational college basketball doubleheader at BJCC Arena in Birmingham. The first game was Georgetown vs. Alabama followed by West Virginia vs. Auburn. I've never been to a real Division I event before, so I was super pumped. The place was electric. The band was playing. The cheermanleaders were throwing the lady cheerleaders up in the air. It was so much fun. We somehow landed good seats, too.

Being on the road for work is definitely worth it when we get to do fun stuff like that.

Tomorrow I leave for Manhattan and Long Island for the week. We're auditing two schools in four days. I'm a little concerned I won't get everything done that I need to. But I guess that's what late nights in the hotel room are for. My first time to New York, and it's looking like I won't even have time to sightsee. We're auditing culinary schools, and I hear that they feed us like no other. Five-course meals for lunch!! Sounds good to me.

Here's some pictures from Alabama:








Mike, Nicole, and me. The coolest accountants ever.






Mike and I with "Bear" Bryant and some other guy.

It's Not Even Busy Season Yet!

Yeah, it's been over a week since I've checked in. I know. I've been going and going for about two weeks. Well, really since the beginning of November. What with my trip to Connecticut, then a local job, Thanksgiving, Oakland last week Alabama this week and New York the week after....I'll have four days in the office then I'm home for Christmas. Just like that! Six months of my career, gone. Vamoose. I don't think I've ever written that word before.

I'm glad it's all going by fast but the biggest bummer is that I have DVDs from Netflix sitting here from two weeks ago that I haven't watched yet. That's hard for me to accept. The pre-career minded me would have hated that idea. I don't really hate it now; it just bugs me. Well, it won't get better. Work will only get busier. Is it almost summer?

Things are going well, though. The weeks on the road seem to go faster than I would have thought. I think I need to start being more conscious of how much I'm eating. Last week I ate at California Pizza Kitchen twice, PF Changs twice, and Cold Stone THREE times. There wasn't much selection obviously. Problem is, even if I'm full, I keep eating. I can't leave food on my plate, right?

Maybe I should buy a scale?

The goal for this week in Alabama is to eat a salad or something light for lunch every day, to not finish my meal at dinner, and to not buy a beer every night. Oh, and Cold Stone or something similar only once the whole week. Sure, when my role is to be an accountant during the day, I like to pork out at night. One, because I look forward to it, and two, I'm going to expense it anyways. But I don't want to start getting a gut.

Back to back east coast trips is going to totally mess with my sleep. I'm going to start complaining right now. It's going to be brutal. I'll be back here for one day next weekend, then it's off to NYC. I suppose I'll just stick to eastern time next weekend. Might as well.

I'll try and post something this week from Alabama if they have the internets there. I'm not sure if it's reached the deep south yet.

When the heck am I going to study for the CPA exam?

My First Turkey

I did it, folks. I made my first turkey. I feel bad though, because it was a young guy. Said so on the packaging. "Young Turkey Breast." At least it was just the breast and not the whole little fella. Although it looked pretty whole. Let's not think about that.

I cooked him on Wednesday night because it just wasn't going to be practical on the day of. I'm not slaving away in the kitchen all day when I have tom-peeping to do. That is, to be a peeping-tom.

Before you get all appalled at my admission of tom-peepery, it's not what you think. I paid to do it. Hm, that sounds even worse. How about this? We went on a tour of the stars homes yesterday. Okay, there you have it. I'm not a pervert. But we were stopping right in front of houses and looking into windows. Anywhere other than Hollywood, I suppose would be grounds for jail time.

I should mention that I'm not spending my Thanksgiving alone. I have a friend from back home out here for a few days. We're seeing all the sites. Four days is probably just the right amount of time here to see all the major spots and yet not get tired of the perfect weather (as if!).

Anyways, the tour was pretty fun. Could be cheesy, but it wasn't really. We supposedly saw everyone from the Guess? Jeans guys house, to Bennifers (Ben and Jen) and TomKats (Tom and Katie). Steve Martin. Liz Taylor. The "Fresh Prince" house. It was pretty much worth every penny.

We were back here by 530, in time to heat up that turkey, pull out the KFC potatoes and gravy I picked up last night, and have some wine in the non-wine glasses I didn't realize I should probably have until too late.

I have a great excuse for this wonderful Thanksgiving non-feast. I'm a guy. It was my first time. Cut me some slack! The bird turned out perfect. End of story.

Today we're going to head down to San Diego for the day. Should be fun, as always.

The Great Sea Captain Debate

I'm sure this has been argued for centuries...from Christopher Columbus to Jack Sparrow.

So which is it?

Care-uh-bee-un

OR

Cuh-rib-eee-un

My First Vacuum

I've been living in my apartment since June. I should have vacuumed by now, right? Well, I've had good intentions. A vacuum has been on my list of things I need to buy for almost sixth months. Today was the day I got around to it. And before you get all on your soapbox and tell me how nasty it is that I haven't sucked dead skin out of my carpet for 24 weeks, let me say this: Vacuuming is overrated. Unless you are and slob or have kids. Or both.

I'm sure there was a lot of yucky-yuck that I sucked up today, but I could have gone longer. I have my windows open all the time. I clean other things. I dust. I don't molt as much as most people (I can't prove that).

Purchasing your first vacuum is quite a seminal moment in a twentysomething bachelor's life. I couldn't just go buy one the very first week I lived on my own. No. I don't want to just buy the first vacuum that's on sale on Wal-Mart. It has to be the right time. This is not something to be rushed into.

What am I talking about? Let's get to the pictures!!

Here's me and my vacuum on our first day together:



I love the little guy. THE BOSS WHIRLWINDlite by Eureka. It's sports car yellow. Hm..I feel a little like Danny Tanner right now.

I'm Turning Japanese; I Really Think So

I find it ironic that I'm eating Asian cuisine with two Asians and I'm the only one using chopsticks.

Yes, I'll Have a Wednesday...On the Rocks

I'm trying to remember at what point each day just blended into the next.

          Was that before or after I graduated from college?

               Should I even bother trying to figure it out?

I Never Thought I'd Be That Guy

You know who I'm talking about. The guy who wears his Bluetooth earpiece while he's walking through Target. Well, that was me tonight. At least I was talking to someone though.

I think it's so lame when dudes wear their Bluetooth as an accessory. Is it really necessary? I get that they may forget it's there, but I'm pretty sure they do it to be cool. Maybe it is practical if they're constantly taking calls, I can't know. All I know is that I was in the middle of a conversation, on my way home from a client, I had to go in to Target quick so I thought I would continue my convo.

Well, I felt like a big tard walking through the store seemingly talking to myself. At least the people seeing me from the side opposite the Bluetooth thought so. It's not like when you have the wired hands-free earpiece; they can see that wire hanging down. Maybe I have to give people more credit. I would think they'd assume a guy talking to himself is on the phone; not like in the early days of the first Bluetooth's (Blueteeth?). Those guys were pioneers. They probably constantly got crazed looks shooting their way.

I'm still really not "that guy." I only wear the Bluetooth when I'm talking to someone, or in the car when the music is up, so I can hear the phone ringing.

I wonder if there will ever be a day when I see a guy with a Bluetooth on each ear. One for his work number, one for his personal number.

And how come I've never seen a woman wearing a Bluetooth? Am I not looking hard enough?

Connecticut

I was in Connecticut for work this past week, but I might as well have been in Anywhere, USA. It's hotel, work, hotel, dinner, hotel, work, hotel...etc... We don't do or have time to do anything even remotely close to touristy. The only reason I knew I was in CT was because of people's license plates. "The Constitution State."

Come on, Mark Twain's home is in Hartford; I would have totally went to see that if we'd had more time.

I used to think people who complain about jet lag between the coasts should just quit whining and man-up. But when I got into Hartford at 12AM after flying for 8 hours (layover in Dallas), picked up the rental, got a bite to eat, checked into the hotel, and took a shower, it was nearly 3AM with a wake-up call at 7AM. Ew. It took us about 2-3 days to be un-tired.

The week was pretty much a blur, but the highlight was definitely the last night. Ryan, Don, and I went for some hibachi at Sake's Japanese something or another in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. I've never been to the type of place where the guy does all the cooking in front of me. We had plenty of sake, including when the chef was squirting it into our mouths with condiment bottles and seeing how much we could hold. Sake = good stuff. We got some sushi and sashimi, too. The latter of which I've never had. It's definitely more hardcore than sushi. Basically straight up raw fish chunks. Salmon and yellowtail tuna. Oh, it was gooood.

I made plenty of money this week with the OT and everything; it's probably the only perk of doing an East Coast job. Too bad it's just going towards student loans....only 25 years left!

Bring the Heat

Ever since I moved in last June, and it was still kind of chilly at night, I've been meaning to get the heater fixed in my apartment. All it blows is air. Not hot. Not cold.

Well, I was fine all summer, but now it's getting to be cooler at night again. I know, it's nothing for you Minnesotans, but 50 degree overnight lows are kind of cold.

Well, last night I was uncomfortably cold. The idea of sleeping in my normal tshirt and shorts was not a good one. I threw an extra blanket on my bed and put on sweatpants and socks.

Usually I'd wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat if I wore that. Last night? Naw. Slept the best I've slept in awhile. Nice and toasty, too.

I'm calling the heater guy on Monday.

Karaoke in Little Tokyo!

One of my friends was in town on business Thursday. When I say "in town" I mean Los Angeles. Close enough. Her business was near Little Tokyo, so that's where she stayed. And that's where I met her.

Little Tokyo? Yeah, Japanese City, U.S.A. She wasn't able to meet until after 9pm. That's kind of late for me. I mean, come on, I'm an accountant. I go to bed at 930 every night. Okay, that's not entirely true. I shower by 930, in bed by 11. Since downtown L.A. is about 45 minutes away from me, barring any traffic, it was going to be a late night.

I don't get to experience this very often, but there was hardly any traffic on the 5 all the way to L.A. Sure, it was past the traditional rush-hour time and everything, but I've never ever driven to L.A. without being slowed down in some sort of traffic. It was awesome. Forty-five minutes there, thirty-nine back. That probably won't happen again. Ever.

Downtown Los Angeles is pretty much a ghost town after the dinner hour is over. You'd think being the second largest city in the country would mean downtown would be bustling. No. It's not. Although it's changing, thankfully.

My point is, when I got off the freeway, there was absolutely no one around. The mile drive to Little Tokyo was barren. That is, until the Japanese storefronts started popping up. Words I have no idea how to read. Asians everywhere. It was weird though, no bums. I thought there'd at least be Asian bums, but I didn't even see any of those.

I was a little early, so I went to the hotel bar to kill some time. When I walked in, it was dark, and some super cheesy Japanesey-language pop song was blaring. The video was on the screen, along with Japanese words. Karaoke? Well, I didn't see anyone singing. There was no stage and besides, there was only one other party in the room. I ordered a drink, the song ended, and the bartender started clapping. I looked around some more and finally located the karaokier, He was sitting at the table with the other four people in his party. Just sitting there singing. This obviously isn't how karaoke is done in America. At least nowhere I've ever been. When this guy was done singing, he passed the mike to the person next to him. He didn't stand up. He just started singing. I didn't understand this. All I know is that it was very funny to me, and something I'd only seen as a stereotype in a movie or something. I guess it's not a stereotype anymore. Japanese karaoke bars are something to be experienced for yourself. It was worth the drive up just for that.

I was pretty uncomfortable though. A tall blonde haired Norwegian amongst all these short Asian folk. At least they weren't staring. Much.

The rest of the night I met up with my friend and we walked around Little Tokyo, got some fro-yo (frozen yogurt!) at Pinkberry (this place is the bomb) and just caught up on things.

I definitely need to get back up to Little Tokyo and hit up a ramen or sushi place next time. And now that I know how to get there, I plan on it. Living in Orange County doesn't afford me that much diversity, especially in the part of OC I live in. It's great to know that I have so many cultural opportunities within a short drive of me. I need to get out more.

I'm going to Connecticut tomorrow for a week. See you next weekend.

Nobody Cares if You're in the Newspaper...

As many of you know, I was interviewed for a story in the St. Cloud Times about the wildfires in Southern California. Because, well, I live there. Here.

I was hoping more would come of it than it did. I even updated my website to include a way to email me. I figured that since my blog address was in the article, and I was on the front page no less, I would get more people who I've lost touch with want to email me or something. I know if I saw the article I would totally go to the website and email me.

Well, two people did. Kudos to them; I really appreciate it. Where's the rest of you? You either don't have the internet, didn't get around to it, or plumb don't care about me. Or maybe you thought, "what a chump! He only got in the paper cause his momma works for Gannett!" Well, that's partly true. She was my "in."

Nevertheless, I don't have a way to track my website traffic. Not yet. I really should get on that. Who knows how many more visitors I had because of that article? Maybe a few. Two for sure -- the ones that emailed me. I am most proud of the fact that they printed a photo that I took, put it on the front page of a pretty well circulated paper, and in color to boot.

Okay, enough of that. I think my mom got more attention for it than I did because no one around here really cares, of course.

A thank you goes out to Frank Lee for putting together the story. Thanks Frank!!

Wait, did Frank even bookmark my blog?



This is the article from the newspaper. Click on it to enlarge it. I don't know if it's okay to reproduce, but it's about me, so ok.

Friday Nights As An Accountant

I pretty much had the best Friday night I've had in a long time. Now, compared to yours, it may not be anything special, but remember, I'm an accountant. My scale of excitement is probably much lower than yours.

The mood was set by the fact that some smoke has cleared and blue sky was finally visible, at least to the West and to the looking-straight-up direction. It was also a good night because I went to see one highly anticipated movie, for me at least, Dan in Real Life. Steve Carell sort of started out his career being a goof. Well, that's an understatement. He was as dumb as a brick in Anchorman, so much so they even named his character "Brick." He was not quite as dumb in Bruce Almighty, but equally annoying. In fact, I didn't care too much for Mr. Carell at that point. Sure, he was great on The Daily Show, before he started his film career, but the future didn't look bright.

That was, of course, until The Office. This was his chance to shine. And he has. It's given him the chance at some more meaty roles: Little Miss Sunshine and yes, even The 40-Year Old Virgin. The former even generated some Oscar buzz. Well deserved.

Am I surprised that Dan In Real Life may be his best performance to date? No, in fact, my expectations were set pretty high. And Steve met them. What a fantastic movie. Juliette Binoche, an unlikely casting choice, shined, and Dane Cook wasn't even annoying! I don't really need to get into the plot details; you can look elsewhere for that. Let me just say, Dan is one of the better films I've seen this year. And that's saying something, at least to me, and it's this: I see a lot of crappy movies.

Go see it.

Alright, if that wasn't enough excitement for the night, Friday also marked the new release of the Mac's newest version of its wonderful operating system (OS): 10.5 (Leopard). Of course it doesn't match the hoopla of it's consumer electronics, but if your a big Mac fan, you will be pretty pumped about Leopard.

All of the Apple Stores were closed for two hours yesterday to prep for the 6pm release of Leopard. I went after my movie, at about 9:30. The place was packed, as usual, but there were plenty of "geniuses" available and I was just told to get in line and they'd get me a copy. Well, one minute later, I had a copy in my hand while the "genius" rang me up via a portable point of sale device. My receipt was emailed to me. And I got a free OS X tshirt to boot! (No matter how hip Apple is, it's still nerdy to wear a computer shirt. Got it?)

I got home and installed my new OS. So simple. Click the language you prefer, accept the license agreement, and that's pretty much it. Less than an hour later I was up and running. I don't remember a Windows install EVER going that smoothly.

I could go on and on about how many of the 300 new features I think are completely awesome, but either you are a Windows user and depressed, or you are an Apple user and have put Leopard on your Christmas list so you can see for yourself.

See, now does a Friday get much better than that?

Amazing Picture of the Santiago Wildfire

I'm not sure who took this, I got it in an email. I'm guessing it was taken around Wednesday night.

This is Lake Mission Viejo looking North, I believe. My apartment is that way. I could see the glow above the houses across the street. I'm glad I didn't get this good of view or I probably would have been freaking out!



As of this afternoon, the fire was heading East and South. The firefighters are trying to establish a perimeter around it, to stop it from destroying more homes, and from crossing over into Riverside County. It's hard to get personnel to the locations though, because the fire roads in the Cleveland National Forest aren't maintained.

I'm approximately 4-5 miles from the south end of the wildfire right now.


View Larger Map

Here's an overall view of what's going on. The red line is where firefighters are trying to make a stand. The gray line divides Orange and Riverside counties. This map is courtesy of the O.C. Register.


View Larger Map

Fire and Brimstone

I took some pictures today. It's the smokiest it's been yet. Ash is falling somewhat. I'm not in any immediate danger, but also not entirely in the clear either.

Here are the pictures I took today.

The view from my balcony as the sun came up in Mission Viejo.



This was how the sun looked this afternoon in Lake Forest. You could look right at it.



This smoke is about 2-3 miles North/Northeast of me. Taken Wednesday at 5pm in Foothill Ranch.



This is what's next!! *Note: This photo has been altered!*


View the rest...


The fire is about 4 miles northeast of me...



View Larger Map

Close Up

This is how close the Santiago Canyon fire is to me at 1PM CDT.

2.1 miles away.

View Larger Map


I'm still at work, though. Safe for now!

Fire Day

Sounds like a title to an episode of "The Office."

I got sent home at 11AM today because one of the DOZEN wildfires that are ravaging Southern Cal right now was pretty close to my office. Close enough that flames could be seen. I'm still about three miles or so from that, so...oh wait, that's pretty close.

Anyways, check the news. It's pretty freakin unbelievable.

The locals tell me that this isn't that unusual though. Fire season. It's just usually not this close to homes.

Oh, and the winds don't help. I was driving home from Vegas yesterday morning, and apparently there were 85mph winds coming out of the canyon. That's hurricane force!! Yikes.

What a Rough Week!

No, not really. I worked this week, sure, but it was mostly spent flying or driving. You see, I had to visit clients all week. Since Monday I've been in Louisville, KY, Nashville, TN, Kansas City, MO/KS, and tonight I'm in Wichita, KS. It was my first trip by myself and it's actually been kind of fun. I've had a lot of down time, so I've been trying to make the most of it.

I've had a hankering to go to Nashville since last year, so it was cool to be able to hangout there Tuesday night. I spent some time down by the Cumberland River, then tried some local brew at a brewhaus downtown. There's just something about Nashville that I've always loved...It feels like my second or third home. I can't put my finger on it. I intended to cap off the evening by enjoying some live bluegrass at the Gibson Guitar Showcase near Opryland, but I missed it by one night. Bah!

Wednesday morning I flew from Nashville to Kansas City. I was welcomed with rain. And lots of it. First of all, our plane leaving Nashville was DOA or something, so they flew an empty plane over from Dallas just for us. Yay, Southwest! It only took an hour. Not bad. When we got to KC they wouldn't let us pull up to the gate because the ground crews were taking cover due to t-storms. Boo. By the time I got my rental car (a Suzuki XL7 SUV. totally pimp; my choice for my next car), it was almost 4. Why does this matter? Becuase my big plans for the afternoon were to go to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri. BUST! Didn't have time. I was a little bummed about that. Plus it poured rain all night, so whatever.

I ended up just going to downtown KC to the Barnes & Noble. It was pretty cool down there. I've been through/around Kansas City probably a half-dozen times or more driving from MN to TX and back; I wanted to go downtown so I could associate something else with it than Suburb City, USA. Downtown was worth checking out. I would have liked to have more time there. And for all you folks in MN, think about going to KC for a 4-day weekend or something. It might be fun.

Today I had to drive to the middle-of-nowhere: Salina, Kansas, to visit our last client for the week - 3 hours to the west. With Harry S. Truman's library out of sight and out of mind, I passed a billboard for Abilene, Kansas: Home of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and - I am not making this up - the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library!! Exit 275!! I had no idea this was there. It's almost like the Presidential Library gods were shining down on me.

I was ahead of schedule for my next appointment, so I stopped. I was a little short on time, so I couldn't go to the museum. I did, however, use the restroom. There was nothing presidential about it. Dwight D. is buried at this place, too. That was very weird to experience. I mean, this guy was such a major influence to the world and our country. Fifty years ago, he was one of the most powerful and popular fellows in the world. This is the dude behind D-Day! And I was standing six feet above and two feet back from his body. I was the only one in the chapel. Just me and Ike. That blows my mind. Seriously.

After that I took a peek in the library. It's really not a big deal. It's mainly for Eisenhower historians and scholars and researches because they have access to basically everything having to do with his life. I suppose that's the point of all of these presidential libraries.

There was a huge statue of Ike in the center of the grounds that was worth seeing, too. I have pictures of all this, don't worry. I just have to get home first.

I went to my appointment in Salinas, it only took 15 minutes. It was 2:45, and I didn't need to be to Wichita anytime soon. I decided to backtrack 30 minutes and go to the D.D. Eisenhower Museum that I missed out on before. How nerdy is that? I really did. It was $9, and probably worth it. I was totally into it for awhile. Reading all the deals and things, but then it got really general into the WWII era. Like, not even about him, half of it. And the "First Lady" exhibit? Like I care about the wardrobe of his wife? No, I don't.

There were guns all over the place. That was really cool since I recognized some of them from "Call of Duty" on the Playstation 2. For real. They also had his huge staff Cadillac on display, the olive green one. Overall, it was worth seeing. Would I drive to Abilene, Kansas just for that? Hell no.

But it was sure awesome to be able to see it while I was passing through. All expenses paid.

Now I'm on a mission. To visit the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., and the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. Too bad I didn't go to Lyndon's and G.H.W. Bush's while I lived in Texas.

Tomorrow I'm flying back to Orange County and then hopping in Mable and driving to Vegas. My sister's going to be seeing friends in O.C., so it's just going to be me, Marc and the nieces! Saturday night I'm going to Jimmy Eat World at Hard Rock Casino, it's going to be tops. The new album, which came out Tuesday, is nothing but greatness.

I guess that's all I have to say about that.

Louisville Slugged Me

I don't know what that means.

So here I am. In Louisville, Kentucky. The Bible Belt. Middle America. It's quite charming. It reminds me a lot of home, even though KY is probably technically considered "The South" and not remotely at all like MN. I think it's just because I haven't really been out of California for 4.5 months, it makes me remember how different things are out there and how normal the rest of the country is. I can honestly say I didn't see any Benz, BMW, or Audis today. Weird.

Anyways. I'm here in Louisville tonight. Then off to Nashville tomorrow. I'm working alone for the first time and it's going well so far. Although, all I had to do today was get here. I was up at 4AM and to Louisville by 3PM. In fact, that was actually 1PM Pacific time. No one told me Eastern Kentucky is in the Eastern Time Zone. So now it's only 8PM Cali time and I need to go to bed because I have a 6AM Cali time meeting. Brutal!! It's okay though, all I have to do tomorrow is have two 20 minute meetings and drive a few hours.

After I picked up my rental car and checked into the hotel, I drove downtown to the river front park. It was kind of fun! It was really relaxing to sit and watch the barges and the duckies making their way down the Ohio River. I got some pretty good pictures I think, but I won't be able to upload them until the weekend. I didn't bring my camera cable.

I was planning on going to a local brewery pub (Cumberland Brewery) for dinner, but I couldn't find the place. I'm sure my directions were good, it's just that it was dark, there was storefront after storefront, the streets were narrow, cars were parked on either side, headlights were in my face, and I didn't really know what I was looking for. I mean, a McDonald's sign is easier to identify than some pub you've never seen before. Right? I should have pulled over around the address number and just walked it, but I didn't think of that until I was back on the freeway.

I hope to have better luck tomorrow night in Nashville.

I ended up walking to the convenience store and getting a sandwich, Fritos, and a Corona in a brown bum bag. Oh and some guy with a gas can asked me if I had any money. His truck ran out of gas on the freeway and he left his debit card at home. I gave him a $1. In hindsight, I shoulda just filled him up. I didn't use all my per diem today anyways. Oops.

Estoy Contento

Lately I've been bumming myself out because I think about how rich I would be if I lived at home (or at least in St. Cloud) and wasn't paying this outrageous amount for rent. Even my coworkers think it's way too much, and believe me, I looked for something cheaper. Price aside, this is a great first apartment. No complaints. Perfect size. I really didn't have much of a choice when I moved here not knowing a soul, really. And how many times does the random roommate thing work out?

I had enough on my plate just moving acorss the country and starting my first job. Now that that's behind me, I need to really start to figure out what I'm going to do about my living situation for next year. Once my student loans come due, and God forbid, Mable bites the dust, I'm going to need an extra $500 a month. At least. I also don't really dig the area I'm living in. South O.C. is really suburban and kind of boring. Not that I do a whole lot anyways, but there's just too many soccer moms driving Porsche/Mercedes/BMW SUVs. And here I pull up in my Grand Prix with 288,000 miles on it. I'm hardcore.

Back to my bumming myself out. If I chose to stay in Texas or move back to Minnesota, I would have plenty of disposable income. I'd pay off my student loans in less than two years. I wouldn't have to clip coupons and pay $3.14 for gas regularly.

But, alas, I realized I have nothing to complain about. I live in a great part of the country. The weather couldn't be better. There is tons to do with Los Angeles an hour north, San Diego an hour south, Vegas 4 hours east, and oh yeah, lots of stuff right here in Orange County. I have enough money to pay the bills on time, eat, and still manage to have a little fun. I know it will get better. That's a fact. I need to stay patient.

I have a great job. I think that's something I realized in the last couple of weeks, too. I've been there 4.5 months now, long enough to sort of not feel new anymore. I've seen the progress I've made in that time, and continue to make. I'm enjoying the traveling I get to do. I really love the people I work with. That's probably the most important part. I'm pretty sure they enjoy working with me, too. Which is good, when you're stuck in Alabama for a week with the same people from 8am-8pm every single day.

One thing I do need to do is make some friends. I've put it off, mainly because I feel like my coworkers are my friends. Sure, we don't really do much outside of work or on the weekends, but we travel enough, that when you've been with the same people for a week or more straight, you kind of like to not hang out with anyone for awhile. Alone time is good, too.

Still, I'll need to make some non-work friends. It's going to be hard to get involved with something once January rolls around though. I'll be on the road pretty much every week for the first quarter of 2008. I thought about getting involved with something before then, but I'm going to be traveling for work pretty much the next 6 out of 8 weeks. Then I go home for Christmas.

I'm not complaining that I don't have a life. I quite enjoy being a homebody. Especially when I need to really buckle down and study for that CPA exam looming over my head.

Okay, that's enough of that.

I'm going to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Kansas starting Monday. All alone. It's going to be a good time. I'll hopefully have updates throughout the week.

Until then...

Kyleigh's High School Musical Birthday

Last weekend I went to see my family in Vegas to celebrate my niece Kyleigh's SIXTH birthday. It was a rip roarin' good time. Let me tell you. My sister went all out on the decorations for the High School Musical theme, most of which she made herself. Hey, I even cut out a few letters from poster board. Besides coupons, I haven't cut anything out of anything since art class in 8th grade. It's not as easy as I remember it.

I got to Vegas at about 12:30AM Friday night after 5 hours of driving. It should only take 4-4.5 hours, but that's L.A. to Vegas traffic on a Friday night for ya. I was tired from the drive, but Krysti was frantically decorating until well past 1AM. Then I had to fix the internets. 2AM.

My wake up call came around 7AM when I had to take Marc to the mechanic.

My only real job all morning was to go pick up the balloons.

The party went off without a hitch. Ten girls. Two boys. One black girl. One "innocent" racist remark. Kids....

Anyways, here are my favorites from the day:

Marc manning the grill.



The pre-party Doritos Girls.



East High Wildcats!



Kyleigh taking a shot...



Zion, Kyleigh, and Alyssa



Craft time!!



The birthday girl.



The Christensen Booster Club


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What An Unproductive Day (And I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way)

Really. I think I must've watched TV for about 8 hours today. But hey, it was fun. I haven't slept past 7AM for 14+ days (a fact, not a complaint) so it was nice to not have an alarm kick me outta bed this morning -- even though I only slept until 8. It was only 5 months ago that I slept until 11 every day!

I managed to get to the grocery store today and ignore the Cub Scouts selling their goodies with a promise of "I'll be sure and bring cash next time." Yeah, right.

I read the newspaper.

I went to deposit my expense check. How long has Wells Fargo been open on Saturdays untl 2pm? Nice.

I went to "The Heartbreak Kid" at the local cineplex. Skip it.

It's great how the movie theatres give jobs tearing tickets to the handicapped, but then, who's making them work in the first place? This kid had cerebral palsy, and thanks to my extensive TV watching, I now know that people with this condition still have full mental functionality, so for the first time ever I wasn't really even uncomfortable around a handicapped ticket taker. What their mental capacity has to do with my being comfortable or un, I have no idea. I'm such a bad person.

Yeah, then I watched TV the rest of the day. There are so many new shows on, I've had some catching up to do. See, I got the internets finally. "Lyons," if you're reading this, thanks for letting me use your wi-fi since June! My new fast internets have allowed me to not buy cable tv, but instead watch all my shows on ABC.com, etc. And since my TV is also my computer monitor, watching video on my computer is good stuff.

I was going to talk about my experience at Dave Matthews Band from 10 days ago, too. In fact, I just went off on a huge tangent, because that was my original intent of this blog. Oops. Let's just say, that's the type of concert I want to have someone to go with to next time. It was very cool, though. I've never heard a more tight-sounding live band before. How they all get their timing down when they are constantly improvising is beyond me.

I know DMB have a propensity to "jam" and go on ridiculously long musical journeys, but I didn't realize how long they were until I read the review in the newspaper the next day. The first song was 20 minutes! There were several others that were near the 15 minute mark. It's no wonder that they'd only played a handful of songs and almost two hours had passed.

Where I was sitting, I could see the full moon ascend into the sky; I could also see the vast ocean of cars that would prevent me from getting home at a decent hour. I ended up leaving the concert on what I thought might be the last song before the encore, so I could avoid the hour it was going to take to get out of the parking lot. Again, the review in the newspaper informed me that I did leave on the last song before the encore, but I missed out on about an hour encore consisting of 3 songs. I was okay with that, though, because I was in my car and home in 15 minutes. What a stick in the mud I'm turning out to be. By the way, I could get used to going to concerts outdoors. I've been treated to two concerts in a row on beautiful nights. Wilco back in August and now this.

Work this week kind of sucked. We had a new client, which is cool, but it also lacks consistency of having done the audit in prior years. We were supposed to be done by Friday. We weren't even close. It's possible we have to go back for a day or two next week. Don and I were working out near San Bernardino. For you folks not familiar with the greater L.A. area, this is in the Inland Empire, or "I.E." which is in the desert, hot, and generally ghetto. It was an hour drive each way every day. $10 round trip in tolls. I can't wait for my 4 mile commute to the office Monday morning. I miss it.

Stop, Thief!

Well, not really. You see, I lost it. It wasn't stolen.

At least, I think I lost it: My Delta Sky Miles American Express business expense-y credit card.

Don and I are working out near San Bernardino, Calif. this week and we were at Chili's for lunch. I got the credit card caddy thing back with the bill, I signed the merchant copy, and didn't bother to pull out the customer copy. What do I care? I don't need to turn in my receipts or anything. Well, I guess maybe the card was underneath there or something, and I forgot to grab it.

Let me preface by saying, I've never lost my wallet. I've never lost my keys. I've never even locked them in the car. I just don't do it (I've been close a couple of times.) So to lose my credit card? What the heck, man?

The weird thing is, it didn't even cross my mind that I didn't have it until like 3AM this morning, when I was up to go pee (I'm getting old), or maybe it was in a dream, I can't be sure. All I know is that the first thing I didn when I woke up this morning was check my wallet. Yup, it was gone.

I called Chili's this morning. Nothin'. We stopped by Chili's during lunch. Nothin'.

I finally decided I'd better call AMEX and cancel my card. No problem. What was the last charge? "Well, we have Chili's yesterday, then after that is Chevron."

Wait a minute, I didn't go to a Chevron yesterday. I didn't even buy gas. That was Sunday, and it was a Shell. I bought Chevron petrol Friday, but that was on my debit card. CRAP. Someone DID steal it. Or, well, found it and used it? Whatever. I think it was our waitress. She had a bun in the oven.

And who steals a credit card and only uses it to buy gas? And how did they buy gas? They certainly didn't pay at the pump. You need to enter your zip to do that here.

The nice gal at American Express said I can dispute the charge once it posts. And I will.

It wouldn't be a huge deal, but I neeeeed to have the card back by October 15th 'cause I'll be traveling again. I certainly don't have $1200 cash to blow on hotels and rental cars that week.

I'll be eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new card. The waiting game begins. I have a feeling we'll be cutting it close.

I've Made a Discovery

Frozen Pop Tarts. Yeah, freeze em, them eat em. Amazing. Especially the chocolate fudge ones.

In other news, I have plans for a few blogs this weekend, but work is crazy right now. Until later...

Alcatraz

So I went to Alcatraz when I was in San Francisco. The island itself is free, it's a National Park, but the ferry ride over is $24.50. It was pretty cool to see "The Rock" as we approached. I'd only seen it in pictures and movies.

Most historical tours are pretty lame, but Alcatraz was probably the best one I've ever been on. Each person gets a portable audio player and headphones. As you walk through, former guards and inmates tell about where you are, what this is, what that is, and their memories about it. Sound effects and everything. It was super cool.

They only let us see the prison, I was hoping we'd get to go into the living quarters for the people that worked there. The island offered spectecular views of San Francisco. Here are my pictures.

Approaching "The Rock"



This is the prison. It only holds around 300 inmates.



I don't think I'd ever go #2.



That's my manager Ryan in the foreground.



This was the last meal before they shut the joint down.



They did this so they knew when a sharp object was missing.






The view of SF from Alcatraz Island.



I wish I could send this picture to that couple in the middle, and the German guy in the blue on the left. (I know he's German because he was standing in front of us in line with his fellow Krauts sounding all German-y.)


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Dave Matthews Made Me Do It

So I was on Ticketmaster.com, about to buy my tickets to the Jimmy Eat World show at Hard Rock Casino in Vegas for October 20th, when I see that Dave Matthews Band are going to be here NEXT WEDNESDAY!

I've liked DMB since like 1996 or something. Maybe even 1995. I've never seen them live, but they are supposed to be some of the best, if not the best, live performers around. Maybe even top 5-10 of all time. They're going to be at the Hollywood Bowl the first week in October, which would be awesome, but I'll be out of town. So next Wednesday it is. At the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine. The best part of it is, when you go alone, you get pretty good seats because most people want them in pairs, so there's always random spots open. I'm not super close, but the place is small, so every seat is pretty good.

I thought DMB only played large venues these days, so I feel like one lucky guy. I didn't think I'd ever see them. And, it's only a week of waiting whereas most people there have probably had their tickets for months. Suckas.

Oh, if you didn't realize, I bought the ticket. I haaave to go. And I'm still going to see Jimmy Eat World after a nearly 8 years of waiting. Yay me!

San Francisco Pictures

I'm finally back in the office this week after three weeks straight of traveling. It's kind of weird. Like I'm coming back from an extended vacation or something. I'd better get used to it. I have a lot to do this week, though. My 90 days have passed, so I get a review, health insurance and well, I guess that's it. I'm working on consolidating my student loans this week as well as getting some continuing education studying done. Yuck.

In the meantime, here are some of the pictures from San Fran...

Powell Street


Union Square


This is probably a famous church, but I don't know anything about it. I just like how it contrasts with the modern high-rise..


I took this from the backside of AT&T Park, home of the Giants. That's the Bay Bridge connecting San Francisco to Oakland.


San Francisco and the Bay Bridge. I've tweaked the colors. It was actually a clear blue sky day.


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San Francisco Makes Me <3 California Even More!

You better believe it.

I've been here since Tuesday for work and I'm loving every minute of it. I mean, except for work getting in the way. It's been kind of a slow week. We didn't have a whole lot to do until 3:30 on Friday. Stupid. So now we have to get done in four days what should have been eight. Not cool.

I really like living in Southern California, but San Francisco has quite a bit more going for it than most other cities I've been. It's on a pretty small penninsula, so there is a lot going on in a little amount of space. Although I've never been to NYC, I gotta believe this is a small glimpse into what it would be like. I have so much I could say about my experience here, but I just don't really know how I want to formulate my thoughts.

Los Angeles is so spread out, and downtown is pretty much a ghost town. There's not really one spot where everything is happening. That kind of sucks. It's starting to change a little bit, but I'm pretty sure L.A. will always be a car town. Public transit is awful there. San Francisco, however, has got the public transportation going on. You can use it to get everywhere. And parking is so insanely expensive in the city, you almost have to take the bus/streetcar/cablecar/train/taxi. We took a cab from Oakland to San Francisco for $60, then found out we could have taken the train for $3.35. Uhhh...

Last night I wandered around Union Square for almost three hours. There is soo much to take in. So much going on. Tons of people. Mobs of them crossing the street at one time. It's so fun. Electric. I love being able to walk to everything. All they need around here to make it complete is a Target or something. There's one in downtown Minneapolis, there's one West Hollywood...why not Market Street in San Francisco?

The hotel I'm staying at this weekend is charging me $9.95 a day for the internet. Yikes. Thank goodness it's free when we go back to the Mariott tomorrow night.

Today I went to the Dodgers v. Giants game at AT&T Park. My manager Ryan is in town with me, so we met some of his friends and went to the game. We sat amongst a bunch of Dodger fans, which made it a lot more fun and safe amidst the chants of "Beat L.A." and "L.A. sucks!" etc. No fights broke out, but there were some choice words exchanged between some Dodger hombres and a Giant cracker. It was good stuff. This ballpark is incredible. We sat in the cheap seats in the 3rd baseline/left field corner and we had an awesome view of the Bay. There aren't really any seats in the outfield, so you can totally see all the sailboats and cargo ships in the water. Very cool.

I'm glad the Twins are getting an outdoor stadium.

We sat in some empty seats that were closer to the field than ours. In the 5th inning, a whole crew of black guys wearing Dodger blue came up and wanted to claim their seats. I was wearing my Twins cap and one of them said to me, "you're going to have to find a different seat, Twin Cities." haha. Good thing we were rooting for the same team.

Ryan and his buddies were out late last night, drank all through the game, and then went bar hopping afterwards. It's 9pm, and I'm sure he's still out. I don't get it. I don't understand how sooo many people drink as much as they do. I'm sure they have a great time, but I don't understand how it doesn't get old one weekend after another. I'm happy with my Jamba Juice. I don't think I'll ever be a bar-hopping kind of guy. I do enjoy the beer, but after 3-4, I am sick of it.

Anyways. Back to San Francisco. It rocks. Even more so that I am not spending a dime of my money to be here. My food and sightseeing is all covered by my per diem. How can you beat that? I'm pretty sure at some time in my single life I would love to live in an urban setting like this. If only for a year or two. Live downtown. Work downtown. San Francisco is the most expensive city to live in the whole U.S., save for Manhattan. I'll probably have to wait until I'm 30 to afford it. I'm thinking it would be pretty difficult to find the type of girl I'm looking to marry in an urban area, too. I sort of feel like I need to find my girl in Orange County. Hopefully her daddy is rich so I don't have to be.

Now I'm just rambling. It's cold in San Francisco. That's one thing I miss about SoCal.

Home for 3 days in 3 Weeks

Hey, so I’m checking in briefly because I’ve been gone all week, I’m only home for two days, then I’m off to San Francisco for two weeks straight. It’s just a warm-up for my first busy season this winter. I’d better get used to it. I’m not really homesick, I’m just a little peeved that I’m paying rent when I’m gone for a whole month. What a waste.

Last Sunday worked out to be pretty awesome. I met my friend Andy (who I know from high school) and his girlfriend in Pasadena, California to go to the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Garden. It was pretty cool. They have trees and plants and junk from all over the world. It’s cooler than it sounds. There was a grove of orange trees that we went into and used this huge 20’ bamboo stick to knock down oranges with. There were peacocks everywhere, too. And I hate peacocks.

Now this is where it gets confusing. Sunday afternoon, my buddy Chris (who I met in San Antonio and now lives in Chicago) calls me and asks me what I’m doing that night. His friend Chad, who I’ve only hung out with a few times, was going to be in Santa Barbara, Calif. Sunday night to go to a Wilco concert with a few friends. You see, Chad went to Phoenix, met up with his and Chris’ friends (who used to live in San Antonio) and they all drove up to Santa Barbara just for this concert. They had an extra ticket. Turns out, I was going to be working in Ventura for the week, which is only 29 miles south of Santa Barbara. It would work out perfectly. If I had been in my office in OC there’s no way I would have gone to the show. It’s three hours away. But well, the cosmos aligned and everything worked out. I met Chad at the front gate at 5 minutes to 7pm.

The concert was in/at the Santa Barbara Bowl. And no, that’s not a bowling alley. It’s like the Hollywood Bowl (look it up), but not as famous. It sounded great. I could see the ocean from my seat. And the best part is, I’m now a Wilco fan , which I couldn’t really say before.

Poor Chris was stuck in Chicago when all his best friends were together at the concert. Bummer,

The workweek went pretty well. I like my job when I know what I’m doing. But when I don’t, and I have to ask questions, I get a little frustrated. I know I’m still not supposed to know a whole lot, but it’s starting to bug me. I want to learn faster.

We were at a small, secluded, Catholic college near Ventura. It was pretty interesting. They have a brand new faculty building that is just gorgeous. They’re in the midst of building a chapel that is going to be phenomenal. Hopefully I’m on next year’s audit, so I can see it completed. We ate lunch in the cafeteria with the business manager and the head accountant every day, which means I didn’t have to spend money on lunch. It was really good food, too. The best part of the week was playing billiards with these two guys. I had a pretty good run. Five shots in a row. Maybe my best run ever! Yeah!

I hope I have internet access while I’m in SF. I’ve never been before, so I’m pretty pumped. We’re staying right downtown…near everything. Can’t wait. Too bad work has to get in the way. A free trip to San Francisco can’t be beat, though.

Wilco at the Santa Barbara Bowl



That's the moon



Oceanside Harbor











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