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.